


This Magic Hour

by godtyun



Category: TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, But why else are you here lol, It's cliche and dramatic, Kai has a massive crush on Soobin, M/M, Mutual Pining, Mystery, Seriously you're signing up for a whole thing, Slow Burn, The author doesn't know what a genre is, Unrequited Love, everyone is bad at feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-01-20 20:25:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 97,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21287672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godtyun/pseuds/godtyun
Summary: “i snuck into your common room because i was curious and everybody is staring at me because i have a different house’s uniform this is so embarrassing can you please pretend to know me”...and the fallout that occurs....and the other stuff that's not said in school.
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Kang Taehyun, Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun, Choi Soobin/Huening Kai
Comments: 593
Kudos: 1443





	1. The Snake Room

**Author's Note:**

> gryffindor: SB (Year 5)  
hufflepuff: HK (Year 3)  
ravenclaw: TH (Year 4)  
slytherin: YJ (Year 6), BG (Year 5)

Fifth-year Soobin gets tricked by a fourth-year Ravenclaw friend Taehyun into believing that anyone can go into the Slytherin Common Room. Soobin goes with the intention of reading, but soon realizes something’s very wrong with the way people are staring.

One of his bullies eyes him from across the common room and starts making an approach, smirking evilly.

Soobin quickly looks back at the bookshelf, his breath catching. He sees a hand enter his field of vision and, panicked, addresses the person. “Excuse me, please pretend you know me,” he quickly murmurs, hoping his eyes convey the seriousness of the situation.

As soon as he finishes, he hears the booming voice from behind them: “Boobin, my man,” Jonas sneers.

Despite being taller than the kid, Soobin has never been very good at owning his height. He shrinks slightly. “I—”

“Hey Jonas, what’s up?” the fox-looking boy suddenly chimes in easily.

Jonas appraises him, standing down slightly. He looks from the boy to Soobin, looking over the Gryffindor uniform with marked disgust. “You know this poof?”

The fox boy glances over at Soobin, who meets his eyes with trepidation. But there’s something comforting in them. Something safe. “Of course,” he grins, throwing an arm around the Gryffindor’s neck easily. “He’s my #1 fan. I’m taking him under my wing.”

It takes every nerve in Soobin’s body to not cringe at the familiarity and the accusation that he is only here as a fanboy.

“Really?” Jonas asks, wavering. He cocks his head slightly. “What’s his name?”

Soobin pales, his shoulders tensing as he panics. This is it. This is where he becomes a liar, a nerd, and a trespasser for the rest of his school career. He looks down.

“Soobin.”

Soobin tries not to look surprised, but he can’t help suddenly looking over at the fox boy with a dropped jaw.

“This is our Soobinie. I find him cute.” He doesn’t offer more excuses than that and grins. “Hey, are you going to Hogsmeade on Saturday?”

“Yeah,” Jonas replies, a little deflated.

“Will you get me some more of that honey toffee?” The fox boy suddenly releases Soobin, wrapping an arm around Jonas easily as he leads the Norwegian boy back to his friends.

Within ten seconds Soobin watches as the boy has Jonas easing up and laughing like a kid. He stops at the friend group and converses easily, and Soobin is entranced at how the group of bullies suddenly looks like a gaggle of middle schoolers at camp. The room seems to revolve around the fox boy. Even Soobin feels himself pulled into orbit although he isn’t part of the conversation. He tears his eyes away to observe the other Slytherins in the room. They too seem to shift in the kid’s direction indirectly. His voice, bright and charismatic, cuts through the naturally introverted feel of the Common Room.

Soobin is amazed. But more than that… why does he know Soobin’s name? The Gryffindor accidentally catches a girl’s curious eye and quickly returns to the bookshelf, his heart in his throat as his wavering focus struggles to center again. _Don’t look at him. Don’t look at him_. He eventually manages to focus on the books, paying closer attention to the titles now that he knows that he happened upon a rare opportunity.

After about ten minutes, he has three books in one arm and another in his right hand whose first chapter he samples with interest.

Suddenly, the fox face pops back into his field of vision: “Are you Korean too?”

Soobin jumps back, sputtering curses just loud enough for the boy to hear. The boy’s laugh is adolescent, but not quite mocking. Soobin does his best to calm down, readjusting his book in his grip as he avoids the boy’s gaze. “Uh, yeah.” He dares to look up. “You speak?”

The kid shakes his head. “Are you full-blooded?”

“Yeah. If you know Ansan, I’m from there.”

The boy nods thoughtfully. “Ahh. You don’t go to Mahoutokoro, though?”

Soobin meets his eyes. _Freaking Americans_. “You don’t go to Ilvermorny?”

The kid smiles. “Point taken.” He leans back against the bookshelf, appraising Soobin’s collection. “What are you looking for?”

“Oh. Anything. Whatever looks interesting.” He takes a breath, unfolding under the boy’s open stare. “Actually, my older sister was a Ravenclaw here, and we’re pretty similar, so I was really surprised to get sorted into Gryffindor.” He glances again at the boy, who seems to wear a fond expression. _Why… why me_? Soobin swallows, trying to decide if it’s worth it to ask the burning question. “Um… do you know me?”

The kid raises his eyebrows.

Panic. Of course not. Why would he? Soobin’s been a mostly unassuming student throughout his Hogwarts career; he doesn’t have a fraction of the social clout that this boy has. “I just mean… uh, unless you happened to guess my name.” He looks away, changing his mind. “Actually ‘Boobin’ isn’t so different from ‘Soobin’, plus if you guessed I was Korean—”

“I know you.”

What? Soobin looks at him again.

The boy licks his lips, looking away. “Monday to Thursday, 4 to 8pm.”

Soobin’s mind goes blank.

The fox boy lifts his chin in mock haughtiness. “It’s pretty disrespectful, actually. We’re just trying to have a productive practice and get people to watch, but you’re just studying on the bleachers. Seriously, wouldn’t you rather study in a library? It pisses me off when I score a wicked goal and you’re just chewing on that freaking pencil.”

Soobin tries to recover, his face blooming in pink, but it’s proving to be difficult. He had no clue that anyone was paying attention to him during his study sessions at the field. Not only that, but he certainly had no clue that anything was happening around him, either. Now he feels like he can’t even look this kid in the eye. He doesn’t recognize him even slightly.

“Um,” he tries, his voice coming out torn. The books feel heavy in his arms. He wants to drop them and run. This is possibly worse than getting interrogated by Jonas. “You… I like background noise. It’s comforting.” He looks anywhere but at the kid. “Besides… that doesn’t explain why you know my name,” he wavers, the cadence of his voice uneven and hardly human.

“There’s another Korean on the team, fifth year, same as you, Slytherin. Ch— Beomgyu Choi? He’s blonde.”

Soobin looks into his memory of all his classmates but doesn’t recall a Beomgyu.

“Whatever. Somehow Koreans always find Koreans. Our favorite pastime in practice is seeing how close we can get to you without you noticing. Sometimes Beomgyu sings girl group songs as he flies by you just to see if you really are Korean.”

He’s laughing, but Soobin is as red as a tomato. His joints feel stiff as he moves to put his open book back on the shelf. He’s completely taken aback by all this new knowledge. “Um, I. I, I— I don’t— I don’t know why you’re saying this,” he finally admits, staring at a black spot on the hardwood floor. He mindlessly rubs at it with the toe of his shoe, but it won’t come off. “Why did you help me?” _Besides my nationality_, he adds silently.

The fox boy fixes his gaze on him steadily. He smirks again, that charismatic, infectious, mischievous grin.

_He’s a Slytherin through and through_, Soobin thinks, his stomach twisting uncomfortably.

The boy leans slowly into Soobin’s bubble, watching the Gryffindor shrink back just slightly. “Because you’re cute,” he half-hums, half-teases.

Soobin, unable to breathe, can’t decide which one makes him more nervous as the kid confidently exits the scene. He doesn’t even realize how he’s followed the Slytherin with his gaze until the kid looks back and smiles. Fucking smiles.

Soobin tears away, his eyes wild as he flails with his books. His knees feel like jelly as he beelines for the Common Room exit. He nearly drops his books fidgeting with the door but somehow escapes physically unscathed although mentally and emotionally razed. _Was it a dream_? He replays it all in his mind over and over as he races across moving staircases distractedly. The boy’s fierce gaze is burned into his mind as if he’s still being stared at.

“재미있었어요?” Taehyun’s Korean words suddenly intrude upon the forming memories, briefly taking Soobin out of his swirling mind.

He sees Taehyun pass him on the staircase and opens his mouth. “야—!”

“미안해요!” the Ravenclaw calls out, scurrying away with a cheeky expression.

Dazed and confused, Soobin takes the long route back to his dorm, hoping to level his countenance before facing his roommates. He’s still decidedly flushed when he returns, but his ears are no longer burning like they were. He makes the smallest small talk he’s ever conjured in his life and goes straight to bed, those eyes seared even into his unconscious, his heart pounding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taehyun: “재미있었어요?” --> Did you have fun?  
Soobin: “야—!” --> Ya!  
Taehyun: “미안해요!” --> Sorry!


	2. Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soobin goes to study.

That was Tuesday. Soobin wonders if he can survive two more days at the field this week. He considers just moving to the library after all, but the Gryffindor in him can’t seem to give in. He doesn’t want to submit to a Slytherin. He has too much pride for that. 

So on Wednesday at 4pm after leaving Flying, his last class of the day, he grudgingly shows up to the Quidditch field, his feet feeling heavy. There’s a handful of other students, mostly Slytherin, but also a few stragglers from other houses. Soobin doesn’t pay heed, instead settling into his favorite seat near one corner of the stands and setting down his broom. Nobody ever sits in the corner, so he enjoys the space given to him, taking out his books. 

As practice time arrives, Soobin sinks into his Flying books. He has an exam next week and it’s his weakest subject. The thing is, he’s too nervous to fly outside of class. He’s easily one of the weakest students in his section, and because he’s tall and sturdy, he feels like his incompetence is that much more of a disappointment. So out of shame, he reads instead, studying the diagrams and envisioning techniques instead of practicing them. 

Then, all of a sudden, a resounding “Hello!” reaches his ears as something swoops by not ten meters above him. 

He jumps, snapping his head up just in time to see the figure of the fox boy flying at light speed. His easy laugh gets quieter as he goes farther away. Soobin stares, entranced by his flying form. _That’s_ someone who can fly. Soobin wonders how the boy must’ve fared in _his_ fifth-year Flying class. He probably blew them all out of the water. How nice. 

Soobin swallows, watching the boy return to Quidditch, his form lithe and quick. _He’s so…_

Soobin inhales sharply. _The weather is nice. The weather is nice_. He looks up, admiring the high cumulus clouds. It must be nice to play under a sky like this. Even though it’s cool, the October sun is welcoming. 

Instead of his Flying exam requirements, he envisions crushing a game of Quidditch. He imagines the high of catching a snitch, but it hurts too much. He looks down at his hands, those clumsy hands whose calluses just can’t seem to form well. He hates them. He hates how they hurt. He hates how it hurts. 

He’s suddenly overwhelmed by frustration and is surprised at how his own tears quickly drop onto the pages of his book. 

Without hesitation, he slams his book shut and shoves it into his bag, rubbing his eyes out of view of the field. As he stands, throwing his bag over his shoulder, he snatches his broom with contempt. 

But just then, across the field, he makes eye contact with a bleach-blonde Asian kid who sits sidesaddle on his broom midair, just watching him. _Beomgyu_. It must be. 

Soobin maintains eye contact, unable to give in. 

After a few moments of standoff, Beomgyu willfully falls forward, leaving his broom completely. 

Soobin’s eyes nearly pop out as he rushes forward, but Beomgyu’s broom lithely flits down to meet him. Soobin watches as he expertly catches it with one hand and flies away with his legs dangling below. 

It’s so dangerous, so show-offy, that onlookers gasp while Beomgyu's teammates call out profanities at his antics. 

“Bloody hell, Beomgyu—!” 

“I’m gonna glue that broom to your asscrack, you hear me?” 

“You do that one more time—!” 

If Soobin thought the fox boy was confident, then this kid is just vainglorious… so much so that it actually makes him forget his worries. His eyes dry as Beomgyu does loops around the fox boy, who curses at him casually. 

Soobin clutches his strap a little tighter. He doesn’t belong here. He should’ve never met the fox boy. He walks across the bleachers, passing other students in order to get to the exit stairs. And so Wednesday passes.


	3. Flying Lesson

Thursday, 4:30pm. Soobin shows up to a completely empty field, and at first he steps back, double-checking the posted schedule. Slytherin is supposed to practice starting at 4pm. Even so, the field is certainly empty. _ Whatever. I don’t care. _

After setting his things down, he suddenly pauses, looking from his broomstick to the empty arena. _... _

Relieved from the watchful eye of peers, he’s flying within three minutes, whipping around the arena while his face numbs under the biting wind. His mood lifts, and with nobody around, he vocalizes his emotions, screaming nonsense in Korean just because he feels like it. He roasts his professors and classmates and Hogwarts and the U.K. and screams for Korea, which he hates but misses more than anything. 

After 15 minutes of absolutely wrecking his voice in the wind, he voices one last curse: “여우 소년 개새끼야!” 

“Wow, you have a loud voice!” 

“ㄱㄱ갑자기—” Soobin stutters, nearly losing his balance as he turns around to find the source. 

“Here, bunny.” He finally spots the fox boy sitting by his stuff. 

Soobin huffs and puffs, his heart pounding once again. “How long have you been sitting there?” 

“Not long,” the kid replies, leaning casually. The kid's  own broom, which he strokes gently, sits at ease, ready to ride. “You can fly.” 

Soobin idly flies in languid loops, trying to keep his face from flushing. He hopes that the boy will chalk it up to the cold and the exercise. “I can’t fly,” he insists shamefully. “My legs are awkward, and my calluses won’t form.” 

“Let me see.” 

Soobin swallows before complying, swerving over to the boy and landing on the rail a bit stiffly. He jumps down, holding his hand out to the kid. 

The kid, who's about five aisles up, snorts and stands up himself, stepping over the seats to reach Soobin. His gloved hand, warm and solid, takes Soobin by surprise. He didn’t realize just how cold he was. 

“Well first of all you should really be wearing gloves,” the kid mutters, touching a raw skin flap on Soobin’s palm. 

Soobin watches his expression, amused at how the kid’s face can look so scrunched and grossed out. Unable to help it, he snorts. 

The boy suddenly looks up, but Soobin is quicker, his eyes already trained on something else. “It tickles.” 

The kid tsks, turning his hand over. “Second of all, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I literally think you’re gripping your broom too hard,” he offers. 

Soobin looks down, disbelieving. “What? No.” 

“Yes. Look at this,” the kid insists, taking off his glove to show his own calluses. “See? Only Mr. Olympia has calluses as thick as you’re trying to get. You’re wrecking your hands for no reason. That’s why they’re resisting you.” 

Soobin looks from his hand to the kid’s, suddenly understanding. “Oh my God.” 

“Have you always done this?” 

Soobin pauses, his mouth dropping. “No. Actually, I used to be the best in my class.” 

“What the hell, why’d you change your grip then?” The kid looks up at Soobin, but the Gryffindor is unexpectedly wearing an emotional expression. Even so, the kid graciously says nothing in reaction. 

Soobin closes his mouth tightly, his breath feeling uneven. Then he steps back, taking a deep breath and gripping his broom once more. 

“Does our Soobinie know my name?” 

Soobin always found the American accent to be a bit ugly, but somehow the kid makes it sound heady. He turns to the kid, shaking his head. 

The kid grins, stepping down one final time to offer his hand. “Yeonjun Choi. Sixth year.” Pause. “Have you seen the Quidditch trophy display yet?” 

Soobin shakes his head again, dumbly. “I don’t like organized sports very much…” 

“Ah. Well, give it a look if you pass by. Look for Daniel Choi.” 

Soobin nods numbly. 

Yeonjun looks from Soobin to his hand. “You gonna leave me hanging?” 

The Gryffindor comes back to life, locking hands with Yeonjun. _Yeonjun. His name is Yeonjun. It’s Korean_. Something about that makes Soobin really proud. 

Yeonjun frowns a little. “Sorry that I can’t speak.” 

“Ah, it's no problem. I’m used to English now.” 

“Your accent is really good.” 

“Really? Where does it sound like I’m from?” Soobin asks excitedly. 

“Korea,” Yeonjun chortles. 

“Ah, ha ha,” Soobin mumbles. 

“I’m kidding,” the sixth-year croons, suddenly hugging Soobin. “Ahh, you’re so cute. What am I gonna do with you?” 

Soobin has to pray that Yeonjun doesn’t notice his breath catch. “Wait… aren’t you supposed to have practice?” 

A bright flash of lightning illuminates the sky like a powerful spell. 

Yeonjun releases him gently, looking up with his hands still on Soobin's shoulders. “Right on cue.” He looks back at Soobin, smiling. 

A low string of thunder resounds. 

Soobin doesn’t smile back. He’s fighting an instinct with every nerve in his body, but it becomes that much harder when Yeonjun licks his lips.  _ I want to tear you apart _ , Soobin wants to say, but it stops in his throat. His blood boils, but his hands seem to know reason. He swats Yeonjun away gently, stepping onto the rail once more. “They’ve played whole games in thunderstorms, but Slytherin cancels practice for a little lightning?” he taunts, looking anywhere but at Yeonjun’s face. 

The Slytherin steps up as well, even boarding his broom right away. Before Soobin can even register it, Yeonjun is up and away, unfazed by the rain that starts to patter. “The way I see it, you’re the one hesitating right now, Soobinie,” he cooes. 

Soobin smirks. _Challenge accepted_. He drops onto his broom, consciously loosening his grip, even as his knuckles complain at the pain. 

And so they begin, playing like kids as the rain comes down harder, soaking their uniforms. Soobin, for once, is able to let go of his anxiety. He breathes freely, playing without fear of judgement.

About an hour later, as the thunderstorm comes to a peak, he finally returns to the rail and sits, his chest heaving in exhaustion. 

Yeonjun does a few more laps, his stamina ever-refilling, but he too returns to the rail to meet Soobin. With his hair and face soaking wet, his naturally handsome features stand out. 

Soobin stares up at Yeonjun, disbelieving at how one person could be so perfect. 

“What?” Yeonjun asks. 

Soobin shakes his head. “It’s nothing. I need to study.” He hops down. 

“I’ll go with you.” 

“I’d rather you not,” Soobin responds despite himself. 

Yeonjun’s naturally bright expression wavers. 

_Fuck_. “It’s— I get distracted easily.” 

Yeonjun nods after a second, his smile coming back a little more subdued. “Ah, okay. Yeah, I’ll probably just keep practicing then.” 

“Okay. You sure?” 

“Yeah. Yeah, rain doesn’t bother me.” Lightning strikes again, illuminating his unreadable expression. “You should go. Your books might be ruined.” 

That quickly turns Soobin. He yelps, ensuring that the bag is closed before scurrying away with it in hand. He waves with his broom to Yeonjun. “I’m going!” 

“I know!” Yeonjun returns, smiling again. When Soobin is out of sight, Yeonjun flips his hair out of his face and stares, stricken by something stronger than lightning. 

Meanwhile, Soobin goes home that night with 연준,  _ 연준 _ ,  ** _연준_ ** burned into his mind’s eye. His face gets redder as he sleeps. He still feels like he’s being hugged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soobin: “여우 소년 개새끼야!” --> Fox boy, you son of a bitch!
> 
> Soobin: “ㄱㄱ갑자기—” --> Wah-- all of a sudden--


	4. Beomgyu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation notes at the end of chapter.
> 
> From this point on, when entire conversations (or parts of conversations) are conducted in Korean, I will note it as such (ex. [Start: KOR.] ... [End.] etc.)

Friday. Saturday. Sunday. The days without Yeonjun. 

Soobin actually hates himself for tracking it, hates how he has the Slytherin practice schedule memorized. He’s one brain cell away from stealing Yeonjun’s _class_ schedule, too. 

He ponders this on Monday before Potions, sitting at his table while entirely too distracted.

At the beginning of class, the professor assigns partners for a lab day. “...and lastly, Soobin and Beomgyu.” 

Soobin’s eyes snap up. _What_? 

Everyone has already started shifting around the classroom to meet their partners. 

“안녕하세요?” a tired greeting emerges from Soobin’s right. Beomgyu is sitting right there. 

“아! 놀랐어.” 

Beomgyu looks up with mild interest. “몇살이에요?” 

Soobin looks him up and down. “00년생.” 

Beomgyu purses his lips, looking forward again. “01년생.” 

Soobin can’t help the smile that graces his face. “아, 항상 동생이 있고 싶었어!” 

Beomgyu cringes into oblivion. [Soobin: KOR — Beomgyu: ENG. Start.] “No way, no way, I’m not going to use formal language with you.” 

“Where are you from?” Soobin asks as they start their assignment. 

“Daegu, and you?” 

“Ansan.” 

“I went there once. Strange place.” 

Soobin nods, remembering his hometown. “No stranger than Daegu.” 

“That you’re right about.” 

Some students glance towards them, fascinated by the bilingual conversation. 

“What, has nobody ever heard Korean before?” Soobin mumbles. 

“Right? It’s less shocking than the massive crush you have on Daniel.” Soobin looks confused just long enough for surprise to register on Beomgyu’s face. “No way. He used his Korean name with you?” He gives a fake sigh and puts a hand on his heart. “Oh, this is too good.” 

Soobin quickly sputters, “Are you crazy? You wanna die, kid?” 

Beomgyu waves him off, cutting up a root unbothered. “Yeah, whatever.” 

“I— do you know Taehyun?” 

“Kim or Kang?” 

“Not Taehyung.” 

Beomgyu smirks. “Ah, your pronunciation must be getting worse.” 

Soobin’s eye twitches. 

“Expats are pretty amazing, huh? We can even find gyopos in foreign countries. Yeah, I know Taehyun. My sister married his brother, actually. Isn’t that weird? They have a kid now. That kid has both of our DNA. Absolutely wild.” 

Soobin stares. _ Does this kid ever shut up? _ “Have you always been in this class?” 

Beomgyu pouts. “That’s rude. I participate a lot. You’re just always in your own world. I kept trying to talk to you in Korean, you know!” 

“No, you didn’t.” 

“Well, I would sing girl group lyrics from across the room. Close enough.” 

Soobin suddenly looks up. “Wait a minute, are you the reason ‘Dance the Night Away’ was stuck in my head every day last week?” 

“_ If you wanna have some fun _—” 

Soobin motions to slap Beomgyu, who quickly submits. “Ya, that was my absolute nightmare. I thought I was going to lose my mind!” His whining attracts his classmates' attention. “Sorry, sorry,” he mumbles in English, quieting down. “Have I really never spoken?” 

“I don’t have the energy for this,” Beomgyu mutters. 

“But seriously, I—” Soobin stops. “Wait a minute, I don’t like Yeonjun.” 

“Oh this I _ definitely _ don’t have the energy for.” 

“Why would you say—” 

“_ ‘uh, unless you h-h-h-happened to guess my name, I guess Soobin is so common~!’ _” [End.] Beomgyu mocks, raising his voice an octave. 

Soobin makes another move to hit him. 

“_ 야 _ ,” Beomgyu snaps, slamming the knife down. The room goes dead quiet. “슬리데린 공동 방은 네가 외국인들이랑 시시덕거릴 수 있도록 그곳에 있지 않아! 다들도 거기 가네! 우린 연준이 형이 퀴디치 잘해야 돼! _ 미친놈! _” A red-faced Beomgyu heaves, staring down a shell-shocked Soobin. 

After a few moments, the professor finally calls out: “What’s going on there?” 

Beomgyu’s jaw clenches, and he stares out the window, his knuckles white. 

Soobin thinks on his feet. Weakly: “I messed up the proportions, so we have to start over. We were just... frustrated.” 

The professor looks over Beomgyu’s condition. “Ten points from Slytherin. Beomgyu, dismissed.” 

There’s a thick pause as Beomgyu collects his books and walks out without looking at anyone.

The professor considers Soobin next. “Ten points from Gryffindor as well. Stay after class to clean.”

The tall boy looks down, nodding. He hears muttered complaints from the Gryffindors in the room.

“I think I heard ‘Slytherin’ and ‘Quidditch.’”

“Beomgyu’s on the Slytherin team, isn’t he?”

“What’s going on?” 

  
Soobin wishes he’d been dismissed. Now he has to sit in his shame alone as his classmates gossip around him. But at least the Gryffindors aren’t obvious; the Slytherins openly glare at him as if they’re certain that he wronged Beomgyu. Soobin wracks his brain. What exactly is he supposed to be guilty of? His face heats up. _ Oh. Right._

That day, Soobin does not go to the field.

Or Tuesday.

Or Wednesday.

Or Thursday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beomgyu: “안녕하세요?” --> Hello~  
Soobin: “아! 놀랐어.” --> Ah! You scared me.  
BG: “몇살이에요?" --> How old are you?  
SB: "“00년생.” --> '00 liner.  
BG: “01년생.” --> '01 liner.  
SB: “아, 항상 동생이 있고 싶었어!” --> Ah, I've always wanted a little brother~~~!!!
> 
> \--
> 
> BG: “슬리데린 공동 방은 네가 외국인들과 시시덕거릴 수 있도록 그곳에 있지 않아! 다들도 거기 가네! 우린 연준이 형이 퀴디치 잘해야 돼! 미친놈!” --> The Common Room doesn't exist for you to flirt with foreigners! Everybody goes there! We need Yeonjun-hyung to be good at Quidditch so don't distract him, crazy bastard.


	5. Exactly What You Need

On Friday, Flying class gets canceled, so he and Taehyun take the opportunity to go into Hogsmeade. It’s a welcome pastime.

Soobin has already almost forgotten the whole ordeal with Beomgyu. They weren’t partnered that week— he almost thinks they might never be paired again. And since he hasn’t seen Yeonjun, his mind has been clear. It’s finally Friday. He can finally relax.

[KOR: Start.] “You get 30 minutes at Weasley’s,” Soobin reasserts as they approach the famous joke shop.

Taehyun’s eyes shine with excitement. “Just go to Tomes and we’ll meet back in two hours.”

“No way, last time we did that, we spent 300 pounds each. We have to monitor each other this time.”

Taehyun mumbles some excuses but doesn’t fight as they enter together, met by the charming bustle of the shop. Soobin never did understand how Taehyun could spend hours browsing such a small outlet. _"It’s not small,"_ Taehyun would insist. _"There are so many hidden treasures."_

“Whatever,” Soobin mumbles as he follows his friend around.

For 20 minutes they roam, Soobin picking up various objects and dropping them just as easily. Taehyun makes a couple attempts to impress Soobin with magic materials, but they fall flat. Suddenly, something strikes Soobin: “You know Choi Beomgyu?”

“Hm? Yeah. He’s a family friend.”

“You never said anything about him.”

Taehyun looks up. “Should I have?”

Soobin looks away.

“Ahhhh, I heard about your fight in Potions.”

“Let’s change the topic.”

“Doesn’t involve Ravenclaw losing points, so sure. But speaking of potions,” he transitions, approaching a table full of them. “Which one will be most useful to me next week?” [KOR: End.]

Soobin glances across the labels. Classics: luck, love, panacea, various meaningless party tricks. Taehyun picks up one marked _SNEEZING_ and heads to the sales counter immediately to ask a question. Soobin remains, his eyes falling on a potion marked _HATE._ He picks it up, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Someone you can’t get off your mind?” someone chimes in. Soobin jumps, facing a red-haired girl wearing a 'STAFF' headband. She nods in deep respect. “You know, most people with a one-sided love buy the love potion, but between you and me, let’s be real. They’re deluded.” She looks around, then leans closer to Soobin. “So why buy this? Why not the love potion?” She grins. “Aha. Because you’re _not_ deluded. Love potions are temporary, coercive, and pathetic. You’re not pathetic, though.” She takes the bottle from Soobin’s hand, showing it to him like a true salesman. “Your crush may _never_ like you back. So instead of trying to make them love you… make yourself stop loving them. The hate potion emphasizes their worst traits for 24 hours. Yes, it’s temporary, but after the effects wear off, the feeling of contempt is likely to stay. Crush begone.” 

Soobin stares at the bottle, seriously conflicted. “Oh. I don’t have a crush.” 

The girl cocks an eyebrow up half her forehead, then offers the bottle back to Soobin. “So lend it to a friend,” she replies carefully, her expression even. “It’s really better than a love potion. Pinky promise.” 

Soobin looks over at the sales counter, where Taehyun is still chatting it up with an associate. “Um…” 

“It costs 10 pounds, but for you I’ll make it seven.” She holds out her hand. 

Soobin quickly sorts his cash and pays, then shoves the bottle into his bag. 

“Good luck,” the girl says, patting his shoulder gently before drifting off to help another customer. 

[KOR: Start.] “Amazing.” Soobin jumps, turning to face Taehyun. The Ravenclaw chortles. “Getting hit on by a 13-year-old. How does it feel?” 

Soobin wonders if Taehyun saw the transaction, but he seems oblivious. “Anyway, what did you get?” 

The Ravenclaw grins. “Secret.” 

“Something involving sneezing.” 

“It’s gonna be good.” They exit with their acquisitions. “Actually, can we stop by the Three Broomsticks? I have to pick up a deck of cards I lent to a friend.” 

Soobin agrees easily. “Do they sell Butterbeer to-go?” he asks. 

Taehyun thinks about it. “I don’t know. You can ask.” [KOR: End.]

When they arrive, Soobin opens the door first to go in. But the first thing he lays eyes on is a gaggle of Slytherin guys out of uniform hogging a table led by none other than Yeonjun and Beomgyu. 

Soobin immediately turns tail to bail, but since Taehyun is caught right behind him, he just ends up colliding with him. And then it’s too late. 

“_Soobinie_!” Yeonjun’s voice hits his heart first, and he takes a split second to collect himself in front of Taehyun before turning back around. He stands up straight, attempting a casual wave. 

Beomgyu doesn’t even look at him. The other guys give him looks of absolute contempt. 

“Oh my God, did you kill a snake or something?” Taehyun murmurs in Korean before heading to the table directly. 

Soobin wants to reach out and save him, but he’s too far gone. He goes to the bar, watching out of the corner of his eye as Taehyun greets a Slytherin guy, receiving a deck of cards. They talk easily, and Soobin even notices them smiling at each other. How does Taehyun manage cross-house bonds so easily? 

“Can I help you, honey?” 

Soobin finds out that you can in fact order a Butterbeer to-go, but he wants to leave as soon as possible. “태현아,” he calls out. “가자.” 

“네.” The Ravenclaw bids his friend farewell and waves to Beomgyu on his way out. 

“Wait,” Yeonjun calls out. “Where are you guys going?” 

Soobin inhales sharply. “Tomes.” 

Yeonjun smiles and gets up, leaving a tip. “I’ll come with.” On his way out: “I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” The Slytherin guys return his farewell. 

Soobin watches Yeonjun pass him almost as if he were going to Tomes of his own volition. 

As Soobin follows Yeonjun and Taehyun down the street, he takes the small potion bottle out of his bag. In one continuous move, he pops open the cap, spins to face the back, chugs the contents (tastes like flat Coke), and then spins back forward as he throws the bottle back into its pocket. 

Yeonjun and Taehyun hardly look back at the sound, but Soobin makes sure to watch Yeonjun. He doesn’t want the potion to get confused about his intentions. 

Once in Tomes, Soobin continues to focus on Yeonjun, but naturally drifts toward the self-help section. Taehyun knows that Soobin likes to browse alone, so he diverts, but Yeonjun stays a few steps behind the Gryffindor. “Do you like self-help books a lot?” 

Soobin nervously appraises the titles, suddenly flashing back to their first encounter. “Uh, yeah. They make me feel calm— oh!” he suddenly calls. 

“What?” 

He reaches a rather tall shelf and pulls down a Korean title. “Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, I’ve never seen a Korean book while abroad. This is—” 

His breath catches as he realizes that Yeonjun is standing close. Very close. He’s only doing it to see the book, but Soobin feels his hairs stand on end and his muscles tense up. Panicking, he puts the book back and moves on quickly. 

“Why did you put it back? You should get it,” Yeonjun laughs, reaching with a little more effort to take it down. “This is a special day for you.” 

Soobin tries not to listen, tries not to hear the way Yeonjun’s voice patronizes him. _ He’s not patronizing me_, he tries to convince himself. And yet, goosebumps rise on the back of his neck. Inexplicable anxiety courses through him. He keeps walking. Doesn’t look. 

“Soobinie,” Yeonjun calls out from around a corner. Soobin keeps going. “Soobinie?” 

“Hyung,” he replies coldly, facing the Slytherin head-on. “I’m sorry, but can you stop following me around?” 

Yeonjun stares back in stunned silence, his naturally charismatic face smudged with something like hesitation. It passes in an instant. “Ah. Yeah. Yeah, take your time.” He turns tail to go back to the self-help section, and although Soobin feels guilty, he also feels much less anxious with Yeonjun far away. _ Just how long will these effects last? _

20 minutes later, Taehyun returns with a surprising two books. [KOR: Start.] “I found something for—!” He stops, staring at Soobin. “Are you feeling sick?” 

Soobin shakes his head. 

“You’re… not getting any books?” 

The Gryffindor looks down at his empty hands. _ Huh_. “I guess so.” [KOR: End.] 

Taehyun gives him a mildly concerned look but brushes him off. “Daniel,” he calls out. 

The Slytherin appears from the history book section empty-handed. Soobin can’t look at Yeonjun, who looks between them brightly. “Are you guys done?” 

Taehyun acts as a mouthpiece. “Yeah. Are you still looking?” 

“Yeah. Go on ahead, I’ll see you later.” 

“Okay, see you.” Taehyun gives Soobin a sharp stare. 

The Gryffindor stutters. “See you.”

Yeonjun waves at them with his bright smile before going deeper into the bookstore. 

Soobin follows Taehyun out, his body relaxing but his heart pinching. He’s grateful for Taehyun acting normal on the way back to school— he doesn’t think he could take any interrogation right now.

And so they go back to the dorms, Soobin separating from Taehyun in a corridor between their Common Rooms. He goes straight to his dorm and falls asleep almost immediately, his brain feeling tired. 

But maybe that’s a mistake. He sleeps from 6-9:45PM and wakes up feeling groggy and confused. His roommates, who were absent before, are now all conked out in their beds. Needing some air, he decides to go for a walk in the corridors, armed with nothing but the dorm key. He thinks about his OWLs, thinks about his Flying exam coming up on Wednesday, _ doesn’t _ think about the way Yeonjun makes him feel like he’s going to burn alive. He doesn’t think about it. 

But then, there he is. Soobin doesn’t have to think about it— he’s living it. 

Yeonjun leans over a rail, reading something. He looks so focused— no trace of that smile he’s always showing to everyone. 

Soobin finds himself standing quite still with a lump in his throat. He can feel his blood boiling, absolutely _boiling_. He hates it. Yeonjun patronizing him, Yeonjun’s easy affection that he gives out like candy, Yeonjun entering his personal space like he’s always belonged there. He hates it all. 

The Slytherin puts his book down, looking out at the staircases. 

Soobin coughs unwittingly, drawing Yeonjun's attention. 

But where Soobin expects another wide grin, another playful “Soobinie!”, Yeonjun just waves at him with one hand and gives a small smile of acknowledgement. 

The lump in Soobin’s throat swells as he waves back, moving closer. He hates it all. Hates how his heart pounds. Hates how his legs feel stiff and jelly-like at the same time. “I didn’t know you could read,” he jokes, leaning on the rail next to him. 

Yeonjun shows him the cover with one hand. _ The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle. _ Soobin smiles despite himself. He hates it.

Yeonjun hums the start of a laugh. “You read it?” 

Soobin nods. 

The Slytherin sets the book down between them, staring out. “I thought it might be interesting.” 

“Is it?” 

“Yeah, it’s funny.” 

Soobin stares into the darkness, waiting. “Yeonjun?” he asks, wishing he could call him _hyung_. He hates how Yeonjun can’t understand. 

“Mm.” 

“Thank you for pretending to know me.” 

Pause. 

“Sure.” 

“So… you can stop now.” Soobin dares to look at Yeonjun, but the Slytherin is already watching him. 

Yeonjun isn’t smiling now, but his expression is gentle. He looks up at Soobin. “You’re cute.” 

It’s like a gut punch. Soobin feels the potion stirring his nerves, pressing his temper. “I’m not cute.” 

“Yes you are,” Yeonjun insists, suddenly pulling on Soobin’s cheek. It stretches abnormally, causing Yeonjun to go wide-eyed. “Whoa,” he vocalizes, pulling harder. 

“Ah, ah,” Soobin complains, wincing. His stomach drops, Yeonjun oblivious. He’s too close. He can probably feel how hot Soobin’s face is. The Gryffindor turns forward, unable to look at him any longer. “난 애가 아냐.” 

Yeonjun stops mid-pull. The creaking of the staircases is loud. Soobin clears his throat. Maybe it’s inconsiderate of him to criticize Yeonjun in a language he can’t understand. 

But then Yeonjun kisses his cheek— an innocent, warm peck right where he’d been pulling. He pulls back, petting Soobin’s hair warmly. “I—” 

“I hate this.” 

Yeonjun’s hand freezes. Soobin slaps it away, standing up. He feels all his weight centering on his feet. “I want you to stop.” 

Yeonjun pauses, his hurt expression surprising Soobin. “Stop…?” 

“Stop messing with me.” 

Yeonjun’s mouth tightens. This, Soobin hasn’t seen. The Slytherin stands up, avoiding Soobin’s eyes. “Okay,” he murmurs, collecting himself. “I… Hey, have a good term.” He nods, briefly making eye contact before scooping his book and leaving. 

Soobin watches him, biting back tears in his eyes. How could it be like this? “Fuck,” he suddenly curses. That’s right. If he hadn’t drank the potion, this could’ve had a very different ending. Or so he tells himself.

He plants his face into his pillow that night, wishing that he’d never met Choi Yeonjun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SB: “태현아, 가자.” --> Taehyun-ah, let's go.  
TH: “네.” --> Okay.
> 
> \--
> 
> SB: “난 애가 아냐.” --> I'm not a baby.


	6. Hallowe'en

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation notes at the end.
> 
> gyopo = Korean by ancestry but not by nationality.

Saturday. And the one after that. October comes to an end, and Soobin rarely has opportunity to think of _him_. He shifts his studying to the library permanently. He and Beomgyu have not been partnered in Potions since the incident, and it’s just as well. With the distractions eliminated, Soobin is finally able to relax. 

But the student body isn’t big enough for him to avoid those people forever. He is among the last to arrive to the Hallowe’en Feast, joining his _ gyopo _ friends. He briefly thinks about Yeonjun’s words: _ Koreans always find Koreans_. 

[KOR: Start.] “Hey,” Namjoon greets him. Namjoon’s a genius, so even though he grew up in London with parents who didn’t like speaking to him in Korean, he mastered the language anyway. 

“Ohohohoho, our Soobin is so handsome,” Adora chimes in, reaching across the table to give Soobin’s stomach a friendly slap. As a Seoul native who moved to Belgium at 12, she has the elusive trilingual trophy. 

“Stop,” Soobin whines, sitting across from Joonie. 

Sitting with two seventh-year students, he doesn’t really know how to explain why he doesn’t have friends in his own year. He just seems to gravitate toward age differences. 

When most of the students arrive, the introductions begin. One professor has just given birth and will be on maternity leave for the rest of the year. A group of students keeps painting a bathroom wall with political propaganda. A famous local owl has passed away. And with that, the feast begins. 

Soobin can’t stop sampling the food while Namjoon and Adora flirt shamelessly as they’ve been doing for the past two years. 30 minutes into the meal, he notices Adora growing quiet. Joonie keeps mentioning foreign models he’s liked recently, obliviously creating a rift. Soobin makes an attempt to close it. “Here, eat more,” he insists, putting more chicken on Adora’s plate. “You have to eat and sleep a lot so you grow tall, okay?” 

Adora snorts, but eats faithfully in a better mood. “Soobin’s such a sweet kid,” Adora notes. 

Joonie nods. “You’ll make a good father,” he asserts through a mouthful of potatoes. 

“Hey, slow down,” Adora mutters. “You look like an egg.” 

“Egg?” Namjoon cries. But since it’s so loud in the hall anyway, nobody pays attention to them. 

“_Oh_, Soobin, do me a favor,” Adora quickly says, offering him a large shopping bag. “Taehyun’s delivery isn’t working for some reason so Wonjun sent his blankets to me.” 

_ Wonjun... Must be his brother _. “Okay.” Soobin receives the bag and stands up, making his way over to the Ravenclaw section, scoping out the area. He finally spots Taehyun near the end of the table, which makes it an even longer walk. 

The Ravenclaw seems to anticipate him, already turning around in his seat as the Gryffindor approaches. “What’s this?” 

“Your brother had to send you stuff through Adora.” 

“Oh yeah, my delivery hasn’t been working lately…” Taehyun trails off, looking past him at something across the hall. 

Soobin turns, following his line of sight. Directly in the path is Slytherin house, and not just that, but Choi Beomgyu whispering in a girl’s ear as he leans over her seat. Soobin scrunches his nose in disgust, but at that moment he also sees a familiar fox boy just a few seats down calling Beomgyu back to him. The blonde grudgingly returns, but not before looking up as if he senses Soobin and Taehyun. And sure enough, he stares them down. Even Soobin can acknowledge how devastatingly handsome he looks. His whole presence screams _ “Look at me.” _ His expression is easy and dangerous and Soobin is pretty sure he’s looking at Taehyun when he winks. 

But when he checks his friend’s face, Taehyun is already pointedly looking away. Soobin looks back at Beomgyu, whose face falls. He looks tipsy, and when Yeonjun helps him down to his seat, Soobin feels pretty confident about it. Before he can risk Yeonjun looking his way too, he preemptively turns his back, putting a hand on Taehyun’s shoulder. “Is something—” 

“Nothing I know about.” [END.] 

Suddenly the headmaster calls everyone’s attention, so Taehyun ushers Soobin to sit in the next seat. The headmaster goes on to give a history lesson covering mythology, early history, and late history of the Triwizard Tournament. It’s widely known that the tournament has been defunct for well over 20 years, so the students start to go on edge. But then the topic shifts slightly to talk about the Yule Ball, which was always held in partnership with the tournament. 

Soobin can feel the hall energy shift as students start to anticipate the coming announcement. 

“And so, we have unanimously decided to hold a Yule Ball this year.” 

The hall explodes into “oohs” and “aahs” while Soobin and Taehyun look at each other dubiously. 

“Those students who decide to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays are more than welcome to attend, provided they attend with a date.” 

_ Great _, Soobin thinks. [KOR: START.] “Let’s not go,” he mutters to Taehyun. 

“Huh? Mm, okay.” 

Once the announcements end, Soobin and Taehyun look over the blankets Wonjun sent. “Hey, your mom should make something for me too.” 

“Just take one of these. My room isn’t that cold; I don’t need all of them.” 

“Which one will you give me?” Soobin asks playfully. 

Taehyun considers carefully, pulling two out and holding them up to Soobin’s face. “Mmm,” he hums, smiling. 

A new voice cuts in: “Hey.” Soobin looks up to see a more sober Beomgyu looking down at Taehyun. “Can I talk to you?” 

Taehyun glances at Soobin, then back up. “Why?” 

“Um,” Beomgyu says quietly, trained on Taehyun. 

Soobin clears his throat, feeling very uncomfortable. It feels like Namjoon and Adora. It feels like he needs to leave. “I’ll go,” he offers. “I’ll take the blue blanket. See you.” 

As he departs, Taehyun nods. “Okay, see you.” 

Beomgyu replaces him in his seat, and so Soobin makes his way back to his seat with the periwinkle blanket in hand. But that long walk can’t stop him from looking around. 

Inevitably his eye finds Yeonjun, who’s leading some kind of game among maybe 10-12 students. _ He’s really amazing _, Soobin can’t help but think. The group laughs loudly, and bits of candy get thrown at Yeonjun as he grins away, mildly shielding himself. Once again, the hall seems to shift in his direction. His light is blinding, even in this ominously-lit hall. After surviving the candy onslaught, the Slytherin looks up, catching Soobin’s eye. 

His breath catches. _ Shit shit shit _, he thinks, panicking. In his rush to do something, just anything, he waves with one hand and gives a small smile, his dimples popping out just so. 

But Yeonjun looks away easily as if Soobin were a ghost, giving no reaction or sign of acknowledgement whatsoever. 

And as Soobin stands there, third-wheeling two pairs of painfully obvious would-be lovers and existing as an object of ignorance for the person he feels the most confused about, he truly feels like a non-existence. Namjoon and Adora sit close, murmuring whatever to each other. Taehyun and Beomgyu disappear to keep “talking.” So Soobin goes back to the dorm alone. 

That night, he dreams of competing in the Triwizard Tournament against Yeonjun, who defeats him easily in a duel. 

> _ “끝났어?” the Slytherin hisses, poised to kill. _
> 
> _ “형…” _
> 
> _ “이게 네가 원했던 거야.” He straddles Soobin’s belly, pressing his wand tip into one dimple. “ 자기야 .” _

Soobin wakes up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. That dream ruins him for weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YJ: “끝났어?” --> Are you done?  
SB: “형…” --> Hyung...  
YJ: “이게 네가 원했던 거야.” --> This is what you wanted.  
YJ: “자기야.” --> Honey.


	7. Interlude: Bora

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short interlude for Beomgyu and Taehyun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Conversation is entirely in Korean.

“Can I talk to you?” 

“Why?” 

Soobin leaves. 

Taehyun closely watches the way Beomgyu sits. He seems sober enough now, but he still has a floaty quality that makes Taehyun nervous. 

“Taehyun,” he murmurs, sitting sideways on the bench. Few people would pay any attention to them. The feast itself has a strange romantic quality that other students are taking advantage of. “That girl was—” 

“Why are you telling _ me_?” 

Beomgyu stares a hole into him, giving him that tight, upset expression he's so good at. 

Taehyun stares back, equally steely-eyed. “Or do tell me. We’re friends, after all.” 

“You know I don’t want that.” Pause. This is a tiresome topic for them. 

“Beomgyu, no.” 

“Taehyun--" 

“Don’t be dramatic again. It doesn’t suit you.” 

“You can’t tell me that you don’t have any feelings for me.” 

“I’ve done it before.” 

“Okay, don’t do it,” the Slytherin repeals quickly. “Just…” He reaches with his outside hand, parting Taehyun’s bangs gently. He inhales slowly, his gaze softening. “I wish you showed your forehead more.” 

“Back at you.” 

The Slytherin snorts, weakly blowing his blonde bangs upward. “My hair is fried. It can’t hold up like that.” 

Taehyun considers him. “Beomgyu, stop this.” 

Beomgyu’s hand falls to Taehyun’s neck, squishing the skin endlessly. “Why can’t you accept me?” 

“Maybe it’s because you’re older than me.” 

“You had a crush on Soobin for two years.” 

“And I’ll _ kill _ you if you ever tell him.” 

“So what is it?” 

Taehyun unwraps an orange lollipop mindlessly, hesitating. He pops it into his mouth, stalling. But he feels a little brave. And maybe _this_ is the right answer. “It’s Bora.” Pause. He looks at Beomgyu, whose expression is veiled in confusion. “She’s related to both of us. Isn’t that too strange? Doesn’t it make you feel like we’re blood-related?” 

Beomgyu glares. Hard. “If you’re telling me that a one-year-old baby is the only reason that you've been rejecting me all this time, then I’m gonna kill you.” 

Taehyun’s mouth dries. He has no retort for that. 

Beomgyu looks around briefly, then grabs Taehyun’s hand. “Let’s go.” He drags the Ravenclaw up and away, exiting the hall with little difficulty. 

Taehyun’s mind swirls. “Where?” 

Beomgyu just laughs, his smile a little easier. “Somewhere I can kiss you without Nearly Headless Nick watching from that fucking corner.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I don't think it should have to be said, but this is just a story. I don't take shipping seriously and neither should you. I would be fine writing about any of the ships because at the end of the day it's just something that I imagined. It bears NO MEANING ON REALITY.


	8. Enter Hueningkai, with Wings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a default, scroll to the end notes for translations. I'll always let you know if you should refer to the beginning notes instead in case of spoilers.

On the first Friday of November, Soobin meets up with Taehyun only to see _Beomgyu_ with him too. The Gryffindor and Slytherin engage in what can only be described as a territorial standoff between stubborn dogs. As a checkmate, Beomgyu makes a point of rubbing Taehyun’s shoulder, to which Soobin scrunches his nose. _ Gross_, he wants to say, but the peaceful expression on Taehyun’s face stops him. His mouth is even slightly upturned in a natural smile. What can Soobin possibly say to that? So he bites the inside of his cheek hard and motions. [KOR: Start.] “Shall we go?” 

The trio make their way to Hogsmeade, Soobin suffering the honeymoon phase of his friend’s _(friends’?)_ new relationship. They’re not _ that _ gross; he’s _ happy _ for Taehyun.

(Honestly, the skinship makes him envious.)

As they enter The Three Broomsticks, Soobin's nerves jump remembering the last time they were here, but there are no Slytherins to be found— just some locals and a group of Hufflepuff underclassmen crowding around something that Soobin can’t see. _ Whatever_. When Beomgyu and Taehyun sit, he remains standing. “I’m gonna drop by Tomes real quick.” 

“Oh, will you pick up _ The Great Gatsby _ for me?” Taehyun asks, giving him a 20-pound note. 

“Sure thing,” he says, but they’re already flirting again. “Thanks, Soobin. You’re such a good friend, Soobin. You’re irreplaceable, Soobin,” he mutters, squeezing between the locals and the Hufflepuffs. 

As he does so, he curiously looks down at the students’ table. In the middle, of all things, is a bottle on its side. He scoffs just audibly enough that one of them turns to glance right at him. The boy’s vaguely Asian features take him by surprise. _ Mixed? _he briefly wonders, breaking eye contact as he exits. 

What he doesn’t see is the kid track him out the door, his eyes bright and curious. 

Soobin enters Tomes, drinking in the smell of books as he makes his way to the back of the shop. He’s always loved the atmosphere of bookstores; from Barnes & Noble to hole-in-the-wall used book shops, there’s an air of peace that always washes over him when he browses. How could you be anxious when knowledge is around you an** _연준_ **. 

As Soobin turns the corner to find the sports section, he comes upon a row of couches and desks dedicated to readers. And there _ he _ is, curled up in a loveseat, reading what looks like a children’s book. Soobin’s mistake is staring just too long, because Yeonjun looks up with those sharp eyes that could melt _ diamond _. 

Soobin forgets to breathe, but his feet somehow manage to start moving again mechanically, carrying him past the sixth-year. _ What is he thinking? What is he thinking? _ Soobin distractedly looks over the sports books, trying desperately to not be aware of Yeonjun who’s within 10 meters of him. He quickly spots the Quidditch shelf, wildly searching for the book recommended on his Flying class syllabus.

By the time he finds it and turns tail, Yeonjun is gone. Soobin feels his heart squeeze as he slows down, making his way to the classic literature section. What was he expecting? He told Yeonjun to stop following him. He told Yeonjun to stop _ messing _ with him. 

_ “이게 네가 원했던 거야,” _ dream Yeonjun echoes in his head. 

Soobin’s breath drops. _ This is what you wanted, _ he repeats. _ You did this. You bought the potion. You pushed him away. You did this_. 

Before he knows it, he’s back at The Three Broomsticks, his mind in another place as he steps in. Thinking of Yeonjun is just enough to let his guard down. 

In the corner of his eye he subconsciously registers someone walking in his direction, but it’s too late for him when the person takes his face in both hands and reaches up, kissing him square on the lips. 

_What_.

In a flurry of confusion, Soobin pushes the person off. Barely registering their attempt to escape, he grabs the kid by the collar before he can get out of reach. He jerks him closer with reflexive strength, vaguely hearing Hufflepuffs hollering in the background. 

_ What the absolute fuck. _

Soobin’s face must be completely red with embarrassment and he’s about to_ lose his mind _ , but the kid-- it’s the Asian-looking kid from earlier, but now he looks completely petrified, breathing hard and squeezing his eyes shut tight. And more than that? He starts sputtering in _ Korean._ “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please don’t kill me.” He puts his hands up in defense. Soobin can feel him trembling. 

_ It’s… it’s a kid_. The Gryffindor softens. _ It’s a cute kid_. He never was one to lose his temper, and he doesn’t think it’d be a good look to do it now. “I'm not gonna kill you,” Soobin murmurs in Korean, controlling his voice. The kid, surprised, looks up. “You have 10 seconds to explain yourself.” 

“I was dared to kiss you if you came back because I said you were cute and if I didn’t they would burn my favorite plushies I’m so sorry I’m so sorry please forgive me.” It all comes out in one long string, taking Soobin by surprise. 

_ Where do I start? _ “You… you shouldn’t kiss people without their permission.” [End.] The kid nods emphatically.

Soobin flares up with anger, dragging the boy over to the Hufflepuff table. The kids suddenly shrink back, pointedly looking away. “You think it’s fun to mess with strangers?” he asks coolly. “What if I had PTSD? Would it have been fun to force a kiss on me then? Huh?” 

The kids remain silent and the bar quiets in turn. 

_Fine_. He takes it slow, milking their fear. “Is someone going to answer me?” he seethes, his voice low and thick. “Someone better answer me right now. Would it have been fun?” 

There’s a thick pause. Even the boy he’s holding onto hangs his head. Finally, a scrawny blonde boy across the table speaks up, his voice scratchy: “No.” 

Soobin shoots lasers through his eyes. “If I see any of you acting suspicious from now on, on-campus or off, I will put such a strong Tongue-Tying Curse on you that you’ll be _ s-s-stuttering _ till graduation. Understood?"

He suddenly kicks the table forcefully. “Go home.” 

Like they’ve been burned by fire, the Hufflepuffs scatter, stumbling over each other to _ get the fuck out_. 

But Soobin holds onto his prisoner, dragging him to the back table. The noise picks back up in the bar as the show ends. He shoves the boy down, dropping down next to him with a loud sigh. 

“Yo,” Beomgyu calls out in English, standing up. “Yo, Soobin’s my fucking hero!” 

He puts his hand out, but Soobin puts his head in his hands, exhausted. 

Beomgyu high-fives himself. “Did you see that, Taehyun? I’ve never seen such a scummy group of kids wet themselves so fast. From third-years to preschoolers. Fucking legend.” He runs to the bar, calling out for a round of some kind. 

Soobin presses the edge of his hand against his mouth, exhaling. 

The Hufflepuff boy sits very still, staring ahead at Taehyun. The Ravenclaw looks him up and down. [KOR: Start.] “You speak Korean?” The kid quickly nods, glancing at the still-dead Soobin. “He’ll recover,” Taehyun promises. “He’s been really stressed lately. He's not usually like that.” 

“Stressed about what?” 

“He—” 

Soobin inhales sharply. “Taehyun, no—” 

“Have you heard of someone named Choi Daniel? Choi Yeonjun?” 

Soobin’s head drops on the table as his strength depletes completely. 

Taehyun relays all the juicy gossip to this 14-year-old Hufflepuff they just met (who’s apparently named Kai) without a second thought, exposing Soobin to the maximum. He answers Kai’s questions about details, making inferences about minutiae that Soobin is too tired to explain. 

By the end, Kai is looking at Soobin with pity and confusion. “But shouldn’t he just tell Yeonjun that he likes him?” 

“Seriously, I don’t like him,” Soobin finally answers, lifting his head. “Really, I don't.” 

Taehyun says nothing. Kai remains mute out of lingering fear. 

Finally, Beomgyu breaks the silence with a round of Butterbeer. “It’s on me. For Soobin, the brave boy,” he toasts, encouraging everyone to clink. He kisses Taehyun’s head and sits down, taking a swig. 

Soobin indulges as well, trying to clear his mind. 

Taehyun watches Kai stare at Soobin’s throat. The Ravenclaw takes a sip, considering the Hufflepuff carefully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dream YJ: “이게 네가 원했던 거야" --> This is what you wanted.
> 
> \--


	9. NEW SAVE FILE?

Soobin wakes up from an evening nap to something… on top of his face? He blinks away sleep and pulls it off, revealing a folded paper. _ ‘Don’t sleep too long ☺ Let’s meet at 9:30pm outside the Staff Room gargoyles. (You know where that is, right?)’ _

It’s definitely not Taehyun’s handwriting, and besides, the Ravenclaw would sooner burst into flames than miss sleep to _ smiley-face-meet _ Soobin right before curfew. He can’t even imagine Taehyun writing like that.

He doesn’t think it’s Yeonjun. It just couldn’t be. Wouldn’t be.

_ Ah _ , he realizes. _ Must be one of the Potions underclassmen _ . There are three Slytherin kids who transferred into his upper-level class, but all three are still struggling to pass, so Soobin lends them his notes sometimes. And if he thinks about it, they still haven’t returned his last batch of notes. _ Must be that _. 

Like Taehyun, he doesn’t like being out right before curfew, but honestly, he needs those notes. Exams are coming.

So Soobin gets up, throws his robe on, and does some homework before he leaves. And at 9:27pm, he arrives at the gargoyles who have picked on him for his jumpiness since his first year at Hogwarts. They sneer at him now while he pointedly ignores them, leaning on the marble wall heavily.

“Hyung.”

Soobin looks to his right to see a familiar cute face. 

He didn't realize how pretty Kai is. [KOR: Start.] “You came.”

Soobin stares at him, entirely startled. “Yeah. Uh, is something up?”

Kai smiles and suddenly takes his hand. “I have to show you something.” He leads them down the corridor, then takes a sharp left leading them down a narrow hall that Soobin never noticed before. 

“Where—?” 

“Sh.” Kai puts a finger to his own lips before pulling Soobin along in a firm grip. 

Maybe Soobin’s heart jumps a little. 

Maybe it’s dumb. 

Maybe it’s been too long since he had skinship and adventure and a _ secret _. 

Maybe Kai’s cute features make him feel warm. 

No anxiety. 

Just liveliness. 

When they reach a pair of strange double doors, Kai releases Soobin’s hand, motioning to lean on the door. “One, two—!”

* * *

On Monday, Soobin finds another cute note in his Potions textbook. As he reads it with an innocent smile on his face, Beomgyu watches from a distance. 

Soobin meets Kai again. The Hufflepuff shows him a completely different secret, still holding his hand as often as possible. Soobin knows it’s bad. He knows he’s entertaining the crush that Kai clearly has on him, but he can’t seem to bring himself to break the little nightly ritual that brings him such an innocent happiness.

* * *

It goes on for weeks. The hand-holding gets more familiar. They brush closer together. Their breathing becomes quieter. Soobin lets himself get lost in the little world they’ve created at night— one where they roam the castle for all of 25 minutes before quickly escaping back to their dorms before they get caught by the castle’s eternal inhabitants. It’s a breathless dream, one whose ending can only be expected.

* * *

On the last Thursday of November, Soobin waits at a lower corridor meeting point, looking around for stragglers. This particular part of the castle is rarely used during the day, much less at night. It’s a two-year-defunct classroom wing— Soobin even remembers having a class or two here in his second year. 

“Hyung.” 

He looks up and sees a familiar face come closer. “I know this place,” Soobin excitedly brags as Kai loops an arm in his. That _is_ one of the points of these adventures: Kai has strange, specific knowledge of the castle— knowledge that even Namjoon and Adora can’t answer for when Soobin inquires. _But this time_ _I have him beat_. 

Kai says nothing, leading them into one of the classrooms. 

_ Weird _. 

“Sit,” Kai insists. 

This isn’t part of the ritual. Thrown off-guard, Soobin separates from him, sitting on top of an old lab table. He watches Kai stand just a couple meters away, the Hufflepuff’s eyes drawn toward the chalkboard. Kai swallows too much. Kai’s expression is dazed. Kai keeps picking at his pinky nail— a nervous habit.

“Hyung.” 

Soobin leans forward. “Is something wrong?” he asks seriously, blinding himself from the truth of it. “Are the kids bothering you?” 

Kai opens his mouth, his face looking entirely too guilty. 

_ No _. “Did you do something?” Soobin asks carefully. 

“I think,” Kai starts, rubbing his belly nervously. “I think I’m about to do something.” He inhales and meets Soobin’s eyes. 

_ Please don’t. _

_ Please, please don’t. _

“I like you. I seriously like you.” 

_ Whoosh _ . The air presses down on the Gryffindor’s shoulders as he stares down this adorable third-year boy. His _ favorite _third-year boy. His precious, precious friend who’s like a brother.

Kai doesn’t see it that way. “Um. We get along well. And I like it when we hold hands.” He clears his throat. “And... um... I want a redo of that kiss.”

“What?” Soobin breathes, dumbstruck.

Kai looks far too serious. Did he grow this much in just a few weeks? “I’m not going to trick you or force you. But you haven’t done anything, so… I’m going to kiss you unless you tell me not to.” 

Soobin stares down Kai, taking in the electrified air. It isn’t right. And yet he can’t seem to speak. He’s not sure. Does he want Kai to kiss him? It hasn’t occurred to him. He’s been so distracted that he hasn’t properly thought about Kai. 

This is Soobin’s fault.

He doesn’t know how long the pause lasts before Kai walks over to him, setting his hands on either side of Soobin’s thighs. 

Soobin is tall, but he still has to look up._ Say something, coward. Anything. You don’t like this kid. _

_Maybe._

Or_ maybe _ he _likes_ the way Kai makes him feel comfortable and alive and relaxed.

Maybe this could be perfect for him.

Maybe Kai could help him move on.

Maybe Kai would _let_ Soobin use him that way.

But maybe that would make Soobin the worst person in the world.

All the _ maybes _in Kai's bright eyes are only that: a possibility. In another universe, another time and place… _ maybe _.

_ Maybe _ isn’t good enough. 

Soobin wishes it was.

He wishes he wasn't thinking about Yeonjun.

Kai presses his lips against Soobin’s. He is sweet and small and earnest and Soobin has absolutely no business entertaining him. This is wrong.

Wrong. 

_ Wrong. _

Without even registering it, Soobin pushes Kai away for a second time. The Hufflepuff backs up, squeezing his lips together silently. Soobin suddenly stands, pulling him into an all-consuming hug. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Kai squeezes Soobin’s side, his breath shaking. “Um… It’s okay. I knew this could happen.” They stay like that for a bit, Soobin taking care _not_ to rub Kai's back. He wants to make it a clean break. "Hyung."

"Mm."

"Um... this is really embarrassing for me, so would you..." He takes a deep breath. "Will you let me leave first?” 

Soobin nods, letting go of the third-year. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll clean up a little." He looks around the classroom out of politeness. "Wow, it's so dirty..."

Kai smiles behind his back. "Thank you," he whispers.

Soobin waits until he can no longer hear the Hufflepuff's footsteps. And when he is finally immersed in silence, he does what he said he would do:

he cleans up.


	10. Above and Below

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> REMINDER: Daniel = Yeonjun!
> 
> END NOTES FOR TRANSLATIONS.

December comes.

Soobin continues to meet Kai on a semi-regular basis, but only as friends. Kai doesn’t hold his hand anymore, but the adventures remain. In addition, he starts seeing far too much of Yeonjun in passing, creating awkward situations where he stupidly tries to greet the Slytherin only to be given the _ slightest _ courtesy of an acknowledging smile. It’s worse than being ignored— it’s being held at a distance. 

On a Tuesday, Soobin, out of desperation or loneliness, returns to the Quidditch field at 4pm armed with nothing but his dorm key. The Slytherin team enters the field to some scattered cheers from the bleachers. As they start to fly around for warm-ups, they greet their visitors warmly. It actually surprises Soobin— he’s normally so invested in his books that he doesn’t really entertain this side of Slytherins.

“_ If you wanna have some fun, _ _ 짭짤한 공기처럼, 이 순간의 특별한, 행복을 놓치지마, _ ” Beomgyu sings loudly as he approaches a scrunched-nose Soobin with a grin. “ _ One, two, three— _! Come on, it’s your favorite song,” he laughs, landing lightly on the rail. 

Soobin waves. “Hi.” 

“You came for me! I’m honored.” Beomgyu laughs at the deadpan look he receives from Soobin. “Aha, extending an olive branch to someone _ else _, then?” 

Just then, Yeonjun lands next to him. “Come on, we’re doing ground warm-ups.” 

Soobin tries not to stare, but somehow Yeonjun’s beauty is always too stunning up close. It hurts to look, but it also hurts not to. 

Beomgyu mumbles an “ah, okay.” 

Yeonjun shifts his eyes to Soobin, wrinkling his brows. 

The Gryffindor quickly offers, “I wanted to watch practice today. If that’s okay.” 

Yeonjun is already boarding his broom. “Feel free,” he replies noncommittally, disappearing without much pause. 

Soobin’s stomach ties itself in knots. Beomgyu whistles in mock admiration. “You’re really something.” 

The Gryffindor swallows. “I just want to be friends.” 

“Don’t you think he wanted that too?” 

_ What _? 

But Beomgyu races off, leaving Soobin to feel anxious again. Exactly how bad is the damage and what does he have to do to make it comfortable with Yeonjun again? 

He watches practice closely, recalling all the reading he’s been doing on Quidditch. Based on gameplay, he’s surprised at how easy it is to tell positions apart. Beomgyu defends the goal posts, looking awfully concentrated. _ Keeper _. One, two, three Quaffles he deflects, moving around with a dynamic power that Soobin couldn’t ever hope to achieve in Flying class. 

But then Yeonjun approaches the blonde, sweeping left and center while another teammate approaches on Beomgyu’s right side. He trains on her, sporadically glancing at Yeonjun nervously. Soobin almost forgets to breathe. Then: “_Ты! _” Yeonjun calls to his teammate. Beomgyu’s eyes bulge as the other Chaser revs to pass to Yeonjun. Beomgyu shifts the angle of his body to train on his friend, but then the girl fakes it, using both arms to launch an absolute rocket of a shot through her closest hoop.

It’s a clean goal. 

As Yeonjun and the girl sweep back around to exchange hollers and high-fives, Soobin finds himself cheering with the rest of the spectators. How on earth does Yeonjun know… what is it, _ Russian _? 

“Come on!” Beomgyu shouts, clearly irritated at the streak-breaking goal. 

“자기야 파이팅!” Taehyun’s voice goes cascading into the field as he sits down by Soobin. 

The Gryffindor grins. [KOR: Start.] “Did you just get here?” 

“Yep.” Taehyun shoots a thumbs-up at Beomgyu, who scoffs at him and returns to the game. “He’s such a bad loser.” 

The two boys watch practice, chatting about classes, Soobin’s OWL preparations, and, of course, the Yule Ball. “We’re gonna go,” Taehyun says, looking out at the field. 

Soobin nods slowly, watching Yeonjun. “Does…” 

Taehyun looks from Soobin to the field. 

“Does Beomgyu know… if…” 

“Oh. I don’t know.” 

Soobin nods. 

“Do you want me to—” 

“No, no,” the Gryffindor quickly stammers. “I’ll ask him myself.” [KOR: End.]

Practice ends, but when the four boys meet, Soobin keeps his mouth shut. Yeonjun exchanges pleasantries with Taehyun, asking about his classes, and Beomgyu proudly brags about their most recent exploits from the joke shop. “You didn’t go home for Thanksgiving?” Soobin finds himself asking without much thought. _ American Thanksgiving is in November, right _?

Yeonjun suddenly turns his attention to him, a little surprised as well. “Oh, um… yeah, we don’t really celebrate.” 

“They do a wicked Christmas spectacular, though,” Beomgyu chimes in after a strange pause. “I went last year and was really surprised.” 

Yeonjun snorts a little. “Yeah, I’m not gonna go home this time though.” 

_ Oh _? Soobin looks up, feeling brave. “Are you going to the Yule Ball then?” he asks politely, trying to convey nothing but good feelings through his eyes. 

Yeonjun pouts in thought. “Yeah, it sounds fun.” 

_ Do it _. “Maybe—” 

“Daniel,” someone calls out to Yeonjun. Soobin glances at her, recognizing her as the Russian player from earlier. She’s pretty. _ Really _pretty. “Ты готов?” she asks, hooking her arm through Yeonjun’s casually. 

Soobin paints a smile on his face.

Yeonjun fucking smiles at her. “Да, поехали. I’ll see you guys,” he offers before leaving with the girl. 

The three friends bid him “See you,” watching him go. _ Bitch_. Soobin freezes. _ Whoa. What_? He shivers. _ What the fuck is wrong with me. What the fuck is wrong with me _.

[KOR: Start.] “Ksenia’s harmless,” Beomgyu quickly insists. 

Soobin coughs. Ksenia's not the one he's worried about. He can't be anywhere near this. He’s tired of being a bad person. He doesn’t want to be a bad person. His feelings toward Yeonjun are doing this. “Doesn’t matter. I’m leaving.” 

“Hold _ on_,” the Slytherin cuts in before Soobin can run off. “Is this how you’ve been dealing with him? Getting mad at him, playing coy, acting nice, then running off like _ he _ wronged _ you _ when _ you’re _the one who told him to leave you alone?” 

Taehyun murmurs, “Gyu, not now—” 

“Then when?” he inquires, looking at Soobin directly. “You regret being like that, right? Then make it right.” 

Soobin doesn’t even have a retort for that. 

“Okay, let’s go,” Taehyun gently whispers, luring Gyu away. He gives Soobin a regretful look before turning back to his boyfriend. 

The Gryffindor remains, tugging his coat closer to his body. He hums some ballad from a memory and kicks pebbles on his way back to the castle.

* * *

One of Kai's most potent memories of his father occurred at an amusement park in Shanghai. "My little mouse," his father cooed, swinging Kai's hand. Kai loved slipping into corners, discovering snack stands undiscovered by other foreigners. The vendors would reward him and compliment him on his Mandarin skills. "What's your name?" "_Laoshu_," he'd squeak. "Wow, you're a clever _laoshu_, aren't you? Have some more." And he'd emerge and return to his panicked father with too much food for the amount of pocket money allowed to him. "Wow, clever mouse," his father laughed, scooping Kai in his arms. "You like hiding places, don't you? You'll scare me like that, Kai."

Kai likes hiding places. He's a little mouse, slipping in and out of corridors cleverly. He hates getting taller. He can't keep up with how certain limbs stick out of hiding places. Especially in Hogwarts, he has to be very careful about his hiding places.

Sharing them with Soobin wasn't an easy decision. Especially since Soobin is _so_ tall. Nicely tall. Taller than Kai.

_Focus_.

Kai isn't dumb.

He knew it was doomed, but he wanted to be brave like a Gryffindor.

He doesn't regret it. He _does_ wish that he hadn't made Soobin uncomfortable. He sometimes wonders if he should've done something different.

Kai isn't really thinking about that right now.

Cool stone, fingers on icy walls. Kai peers out to the empty corridor and carefully hops to another corner, his breath absolutely still. When he wants to, he can be practically invisible. He doesn't need a magical cloak. He is a mouse.

"_Laoshu_," he whispers to nobody, listening carefully.

Something breaks the stillness. Murmuring. He keys in, tip-toeing closer to the sound. The voices reverberate in the cool air, the hushed tones almost slipping past Kai's understanding. But a little mouse hears everything, even the faintest sigh. So he wills his ears to open more, shutting out other thoughts. English is slightly more difficult to comprehend than Korean, but his father's voice is always there to carry him.

Mid-sentence, he finally starts to understand a boy's voice. "...back for curfew. My roommate is a Prefect."

Daniel Choi's voice.

Kai's heart starts beating faster. He peers out from a concealed wall, spotting the right blade of Daniel's shoulder. He holds his breath, trying to decide if it's worth it to get closer.

> _"You'll scare me like that, Kai."_

Kai remains concealed. Unlike Daniel, no one is looking for him. _His_ roommates couldn't care less.

Soobin would care.

Kai pinches his arm. _Stop that_. He ultimately stays in his place, watching Daniel.

An unfamiliar woman's voice hums through the air. "No one will miss you."

Daniel's shoulder disappears and Kai has to suppress every bone in his body from following the movement. _Don't be a hero_, he tells himself._ It doesn't suit you_. So despite the knotted feeling in his belly, he stays put. Little mouse remains in a dark hole, waiting for cheese.

Five minutes later, cheese returns. Daniel's silhouette comes into view, fuller this time. His broad shoulders don't quite fit in Kai's view, but a small woman's frame does. "You'll think about it?"

In the moonlight, Kai can barely make out Daniel nodding.

"Good boy." The woman pats Daniel on the head, lingering. "Come back when you're ready, okay?" 

She slips back into the shadows. Kai remains, his breath almost nonexistent.

Daniel stands there for God-knows-how-long, Kai just watching him. _What the hell is going on_.

All of a sudden, Daniel turns around. Kai flicks his head back into the shadow, holding his breath. _Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck—_

Footsteps. Silence. Kai allows shallow breaths, taking continuous care in his silence.

When he looks again, no one is there. He traces his steps back, engraving this location into his memory. The woman must be a professor of some kind, so there must be an office.

Clever mouse disappears with hardly a sound, reeling at this strange event. He is neither Ravenclaw with wisdom nor Slytherin with cunning nor Gryffindor with stupid bravery.

He's just a Hufflepuff.

And what does a Hufflepuff do with information he's not supposed to have?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daniel = Yeonjun!!!!
> 
> BG: “짭짤한 공기처럼, 이 순간의 특별한, 행복을 놓치지마" --> Don’t let go of this special happiness, That’s like the salty air ("Dance the Night Away" by TWICE)
> 
> YJ: "Ты!" --> You!
> 
> TH: “자기야 파이팅!” --> Fighting, sweetie!
> 
> Ksenia: "Ты готов?" --> Ready? (informal)  
YJ: "Да, поехали." --> Yeah, let's go.
> 
> (big shoutout to my sister for translating the Russian-- between my adv. beginner's Korean and her fluent Russian i'm getting through this multilingual mess.)


	11. close reading

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Refer to the end notes for translations!

That night, Soobin heads to the library for an OWL study session, but just as he rounds one of the last corners, he nearly collides with a panicked Kai.

[KOR: Start.] “Hyung,” Kai whines, clutching Soobin’s sleeves. “Ineedyourhelpineedyourhelpineedyourhelp.” 

A thousand panicked thoughts cross Soobin’s mind. His eyes go wide. “What, what is it?” 

“My Muggle Studies exam is tomorrow and I know nothing.” 

_ Jeez. _“God, you scared me.” Soobin’s shoulders drop as he exhales, starting to walk as Kai stays glued to him. “I don’t even know if I remember Muggle Studies… was it Ancient Civilization in the first term? What’s the time period?” 

Pause.

Kai blinks up at him. “I don’t know.” 

Soobin gives a half-suppressed laugh. “Do you at least have your books?”

“Yeah.” 

“Let’s study together then. I’ll help you.” He throws an arm around Kai, leading him into the grand library.

Kai sighs. “Hyung, you’re gonna save my life.” 

Soobin smiles. “I know.” 

They sit at an empty table in the main reading room of the library. Normally there wouldn’t be many students, but with exams coming up, the two boys are actually quite lucky to find the last remaining table. They settle in comfortably, studying and talking through the timeline Kai copied for review. 

Meanwhile, Soobin continues to read his Quidditch history book, copying down techniques players use for more stable flight. His own exam is on Monday and the advanced techniques are getting easier as he practices more, but he’s worried about performing under pressure. _ What if I mess up with everyone watching _ ? _ What I fall off my broom _? These anxieties turn in the back of his mind while he studies. 

At around 9pm, he sits back, stretching out his arms. [KOR: End.] “Oh?” he starts.

A wandering Yeonjun catches his attention out of the corner of his eye. Soobin looks around, noting that none of Yeonjun’s Slytherin friends are present. 

Leap of faith. “연준이 형— _ Yeonjun _,” he calls out a smidge louder, catching the boy’s attention. 

As Yeonjun approaches, Kai murmurs, “한국말로 못 해요?” 

Soobin nods. “응.” 

Yeonjun grins as he sidles up to their table. “Hey, how are you guys doing?” he asks pleasantly. 

“Good,” Kai answers, his English accent tinged with a slightly foreign tone. 

“Oh, are you Korean too?” Yeonjun asks. 

Soobin glances at Kai, who wears a strangely nervous expression. His eyes keep glancing off. “Mixed. My dad is American.” He stops short. “Ah, my name is Kai.”

“Oh great, nice to meet you, Kai,” the sixth-year answers. 

Soobin gestures to the table, chalking up Kai’s weirdness to meeting a new hyung. “Do you want to study with us?” He hopes he doesn’t come off as disingenuous.

Yeonjun exhales in relief, smiling gently. “Do you mind?” he accepts, taking the end-chair. “I have my Apparition exam tomorrow.” 

Kai sits up. “What year are you?” 

“Sixth.” 

“우,” the Hufflepuff goes, turning to Soobin. “멋있다.” 

Soobin quickly looks from Kai to Yeonjun. “Oh, he thinks you’re cool.” 

“Oh, thanks,” Yeonjun answers, a little bashful. “You guys can speak comfortably. I’ll just listen to music.” 

“Ah, okay,” Soobin mumbles. Just as he says, Yeonjun pulls out a pair of earbuds, sticking them both in. 

After a few minutes of settling back in, Kai glances at Yeonjun without turning his head, then looks up at Soobin. [KOR: Start.] “So this is him?” 

Soobin chokes on his own spit, blood rushing up to his face as he awkwardly clears his throat. Yeonjun looks up only slightly, appearing wholly focused downwards.

Kai nods, twisting his pencil. “You have good taste, hyung. Set me up too.” 

Soobin tries to shoot daggers with his eyes, but Kai remains unfazed. “You’re 14. I’m not going to set you up.” 

“So? You’re 15.” 

“I turn 16 on Friday,” Soobin mumbles under his breath. 

“But really, he looks cool.” 

“...He is.” 

Pause. “About the Yule—” 

Soobin stomps on Kai’s foot, causing the Hufflepuff to give the slightest hint of a whine. “English speakers can still recognize English words, idiot,” Soobin murmurs, scribbling stream-of-conscious thoughts on his scratch paper in Korean. The syllable blocks are messy, shaky. He’s never had good handwriting.

Kai appears still focused on the ball.

The Hufflepuff hesitates. “You could ask me,” he tries. It’s an attempt without much steam. Soobin stops scribbling. Kai continues. “If I—” 

“Kai.” 

“Ha… Bad joke. Sorry.” His lowered gaze isn’t convincing. “Let’s just study.” 

So they study. As Yeonjun reads and Kai copies notes, Soobin starts to scribble again, his pen almost as fast as his thoughts. 30 minutes pass before he even realizes it.

Kai gets up, stretching. “Do you want a coffee?” 

“Anything caramel,” Soobin requests, slowing down on his writing. [KOR: End.] 

Kai turns to Yeonjun. “형,” he says. 

Yeonjun takes his earbuds out, looking up. “Hm?” 

“Oh.” Kai quickly makes the language flip. “Can I get you a coffee?” 

“Oh. Any kind of juice is okay,” he says. “Hold on… here, pay with this.” He gives Kai a 10-pound note to which the kid gasps. 

“Oh, thank you,” he says sweetly, then winks at Soobin. “멋있네요,” he mouths, going on his way. 

“가,” Soobin mouths back. 

“He’s sweet,” Yeonjun observes when Kai is out of sight. 

Soobin glances at Yeonjun’s book offhandedly and has a bit of a brain fart. _ Isn’t that the same page he was on when he sat down _ ? Soobin retraces his memory. _ Has he even turned the page _? “Is something on your mind?” he asks. 

Yeonjun looks down, suddenly alive again. “Oh. Yeah, I’m not really good at studying,” he jokes sheepishly. “I like your drawings.” He gestures to Soobin’s scratch paper, but Soobin quickly covers them. The Slytherin laughs brightly, turning Soobin’s stomach. 

He missed this. “They’re not really anything.” 

“Can I see?” 

_ Make it right _, Beomgyu’s words repeat. So Soobin carefully reveals the paper, sliding it over. 

Yeonjun looks at it almost reverently, carefully looking over all the marks. “Is this supposed to be you?” He points at a poorly-drawn straight-haired boy on a broom. 

Soobin sits up indignantly. “Supposed…? Hey, can’t you tell from the ears?” 

Yeonjun laughs again, his eyes shifting around on the paper. Soobin’s eyes settle on his mouth, but he catches himself and concentrates on his book again. 

“What’s this?” Yeonjun asks, showing Soobin a messy paragraph written in Korean on the back of the page. 

“Oh.” _ Well, what the hell. _ “It’s the preface to a short story I’m working on.” 

Yeonjun smiles fondly. “Your handwriting is cute.” He stops short, looking up. “Oh, I—” 

“No, no,” Soobin interrupts, quick to make amends. No one has ever called his handwriting cute. He’s always had large, messy handwriting. It isn’t as bad as Kai’s, but it’s far from calligraphy. He isn’t sure how it could be cute, but he doesn’t think Yeonjun would give an empty compliment. “Thank you.” 

Thick pause before Yeonjun looks back down, considering the paragraph. 

A few minutes later, Kai returns with the drinks, setting them down in the middle of the table. “오호우, 기분이 좋네요,” he notes, winking at Soobin. 

It takes everything in his system not to hit the kid as he sits down. 

Yeonjun passes the doodles back to Soobin like a secret. Soobin receives it gently, avoiding Yeonjun’s eyes. 

After perhaps 20-30 more minutes of study, Yeonjun gets up with a large breath. “I’ll go first,” he bids them. “Nice to meet you, Kai.” 

Kai nods. “Nice to meet you too.” 

As the Slytherin packs up his books, Soobin adds: “Good luck on Apparition tomorrow.” 

Yeonjun zips up his bag, giving Soobin a warm smile. “Thanks,” he says softly, dropping a light hand on Soobin’s shoulder before leaving. 

After a pause, Kai blows air, shaking his head incredulously.

[KOR: Start.] “Whatever,” Soobin mumbles. 

“I’ll try to accept defeat since it’s to a guy like that.” 

Soobin looks up, meeting Kai’s eyes. The Hufflepuff is still far too earnest. He can see the bittersweetness in his eyes. It hurts Soobin too, but he ignores it for both of their sakes, instead nodding with a small smile.

Kai glances at Soobin’s scratch paper which is still story-side up. “What’s this?” he asks curiously. Soobin offers the paper to him. He follows along silently as Kai reads, having practically memorized it by now:

> _ 이것은 한 소년에 대한 이야기다. 어느 날 그 소년은 두통을 느끼며 잠에서 깨어났다. 그는 머리에 뿔이 달려 있었기 때문에 거울에 비친 자신의 모습을 보고 놀랐다. 소년은 무서웠다… 그는 사람들이 뭐라고 할지 두려웠다. 그래서 그들은 아무도 없는 곳에 몸을 숨기기로 했다. "내가 괴물이 되면 어쩌지?" 겁에 질린 어린 소년은 뛰고 또 뛰었다. 그 순간 소년은 불빛 속으로 사라졌다. 그 소년은 날개를 가진 다른 소년을 만났다. 그리고 마침내 그는 미소를 지었다. 소년들은 서로를 알아보았다. 그리고 이제 그들은 더 이상 혼자가 아니다. 이 특별한 소년들의 이야기는 계속될 것이다… _

“This is…” Kai trails off. 

“Inspiring? Amazing?” 

“Weird.” Kai looks up. “Is this a story about furries?” 

Soobin kicks him under the table before standing up, picking up his book and notes with a fake frown. “I’m going too,” he teases, shoving his highlighters away. 

“Wait, I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” Kai tries, making a futile grab for Soobin’s favorite pencil.

Soobin beats him to it, holding their hands firmly onto the pencil. “_Goodnight_,” he sings, yanking the pencil out before walking away. _ Serves him right_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE WE GO!
> 
> HK: “한국말로 못 해요?” --> He doesn't speak Korean?  
SB: “응.” --> Right.  
\--  
HK “우, 멋있다.” --> Ooh, he's cool.  
\--  
HK: "멋있네요." --> He's SO cool.  
SB: "가." --> Go.  
\--  
HK: “오호우 기분이 좋네요.” --> Oho, the mood is GOOD here ;)  
\--  
SB: 이것은 한 소년에 대한 이야기다. 어느 날 그 소년은 두통을 느끼며 잠에서 깨어났다. 그는 머리에 뿔이 달려 있었기 때문에 거울에 비친 자신의 모습을 보고 놀랐다. 소년은 무서웠다… 그는 사람들이 뭐라고 할지 두려웠다. 그래서 그들은 아무도 없는 곳에 몸을 숨기기로 했다. "내가 괴물이 되면 어쩌지?" 겁에 질린 어린 소년은 뛰고 또 뛰었다. 그 순간 소년은 불빛 속으로 사라졌다. 그 소년은 날개를 가진 다른 소년을 만났다. 그리고 마침내 그는 미소를 지었다. 소년들은 서로를 알아보았다. 그리고 이제 그들은 더 이상 혼자가 아니다. 이 특별한 소년들의 이야기는 계속될 것이다…   
\-->  
This is a story about a boy. One day the boy woke up with a headache. He was surprised to see himself in the mirror because he had horns on his head. The boy was scared... He was afraid of what people would say. So they decided to hide in places where there was no one. "What if I become a monster?" the frightened little boy ran and ran. At that moment the boy disappeared into the light. The boy met another boy with wings. And finally he smiled. The boys recognized each other. And now they are no longer alone. The story of these special boys will continue...


	12. SN 1986G

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***NO TRANSLATION NOTES THIS CHAPTER!!!***

Wednesday.

As Soobin sits down in the stands with Taehyun, Beomgyu flies up onto the nearest rail wearing his Quidditch uniform. The Slytherin players pass in the background like flies, Soobin glancing among them quickly, but Beomgyu beats him to it. [KOR: Start.] “He’s not here today.”

Soobin looks up. _ What _? “Yeonjun?”

Beomgyu nods, looking back at his teammates. “I don’t know either. Haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

That’s not right. Soobin specifically remembers Yeonjun telling him he’s never missed a practice. “Maybe… maybe he took a nap or something.”

Beomgyu shrugs, blowing his lips. “Mm.”

“No?”

The blonde cocks his head, his jaw tensing. Soobin wonders what’s on his mind. _Does he know something_? “Probably. He’s probably asleep. Maybe sick. Whatever.” With a renewed smile, he winks at Taehyun. “Watch me, okay? I bought new gloves.”

The Ravenclaw sits back with his book in hand. “Give me a reason to watch you.”

“_Ya_," Beomgyu whines, pouting heavily.

Soobin cringes. “Ah, gross, stop flirting! Go practice!”

So Beomgyu goes, but not before singing the chorus of some girl group song mockingly.

After a while, Soobin and Taehyun fall into a comfortable silence, both reading diligently despite the ugly grunts and cries of the players.

Suddenly, Taehyun breaks the silence: “I didn’t think you dog-eared books.”

Soobin looks up at his friend in confusion. “I don’t.” He holds up his book on the side to inspect his pages only to see an incriminating irregularity near the beginning. _Who the hell…?_ “What,” he murmurs, flipping the pages.

He lands on a photo spread labeled: **HUFFLEPUFF'S QUIDDITCH LEGACY: 1986 TEAM. **Team photos, blurry photos of the action, photos of friends huddled together, photos of high-fives and hugs. But Soobin’s eye is drawn downward to the bottom of the page.

Circled in red marker is a medium-sized square photo. Caption: _ Hong Nak Choi, Seeker. _Soobin stares, feeling like he’s in a dream. He got this book new. In fact, he remembers skimming the history pages in favor of the technique chapters. 

Then…?

“Whoa, is that Daniel?” Taehyun asks, glancing at the photo.

Soobin looks at the photo itself. Choi Yeonjun looks back at him in black and white. He sits on the field, legs splayed out, the Quidditch Cup sitting in front of him as he grins familiarly. He holds the Snitch in his palm as easily as if it was a feather.

Warmth rises in Soobin. His heart pounds in his chest. _Yeonjun_.

“Wow, he really looks like his…” Taehyun finally notices the section title. “Holy shit, his dad was on the ‘86 Hufflepuff team?”

And even though it’s _ not _ Yeonjun, even though with every passing second Soobin notices differing features on Choi Hongnak (tucked-in ears, thinner lips, a wider forehead), he can’t help but feel that it’s his Slytherin friend displaced in time and space. Yeonjun’s eyes smile back at him.

“Where are you going?” Taehyun asks.

Soobin snaps out of it only to realize that he’s standing. “I’m gonna go see him.” _ I’m gonna go see him _? He stuffs his book in his bag, zipping furiously. “I just.”

“I know.” The Ravenclaw nods. Then: “Hyung.”

The Gryffindor stops in his tracks. “Hm?”

Taehyun grins. “I heard it’s gonna snow on Friday.” His eyes shine. “We should all go out and play.” [KOR: End.]

It occurs to Soobin that he never wants to take Taehyun’s friendship for granted. 

* * *

Soobin hates standing out, so he briskly walks back to the castle instead of running. (But it might make him look weirder.) After every few steps, his feet implore him to jog even farther, causing him to bump into students a few times (to which he apologizes profusely). 

He passes a bright-eyed Kai. “Hyung—!”

Soobin doesn’t even notice, barreling right past him.

On his fifth bump-in, he turns to see the ugly face of Jonas— _Jonas_, his old bully. “You,” Soobin breathes, his eyes wide. _ You. You might know_.

“Watch where you’re walking,” Jonas warns, his eyes unfriendly. His fellow Slytherin friends keep walking ahead of him, joking loudly.

He stares Jonas down evenly. “Where’s Yeonjun.” 

“Yuh_what _?” 

“_Daniel_, where’s _ Daniel_?” Soobin asks more insistently. 

“I… think the Common Room?” 

Before he can take another breath, Soobin races off. 

“You’re not allowed in there!” he hears Jonas yell behind him, but he can’t care. Yeonjun hasn’t missed a practice in three years.

_ Something’s not right_. 

Soobin drops down flight after flight of stairs, skipping steps just to be a little faster, be faster, be _ faster, Soobin_! He’s huffing by the time he reaches the entrance of the Dungeon. The password… “ _ Mudblood’s wish_,” he whispers, flinching a little at the slur. But the door does not open. Instead it growls, low and dangerous. Soobin steps back. _ You’re kidding. How often do they change this thing_? 

But he doesn’t have any other choice, so he makes his way back up, feeling lost. The cold of the stone steps seeps into his shoes, cooling him from the bottom up. 

At the top of the stairs, he stops, breathing softly as he listens to the sound of water dripping. He closes his eyes, leaning back against the wall to cool his beating heart.

On the sixth drop of water, Soobin hears a sharp, high breath accompany it. His own breath pauses as his ear tracks it. 

He slowly removes himself the stone wall, moving down the main corridor carefully. Some Slytherin girls glare at him as they pass by, the clicking of their Mary Jane shoes reverberating against all surfaces. After they pass, he listens carefully for the dripping water, making the next right down a narrow hall. Locked wooden doors line the corridor as he quietly makes his way through. 

On the next drop, another sharp breath interrupts the air. Before he realizes it, the hall ends, only leaving a left turn. Now he can clearly discern that the dripping is very close. _ Here _. He turns the corner with a very quiet step, discovering a cloaked child huddled against the corner of a half-hallway.

No. “Hyung?” he murmurs softly.

Yeonjun scrambles to get up, pressing his lips together. Soobin is faster though and runs over, pushing Yeonjun’s shoulders down. “Hyung. _Hyung_.” He’s surprised at how easily the Slytherin submits, dropping back down on his butt with his head hanging down. He breathes silently, covering his face with his sleeves. 

Soobin sinks to his knees, ignoring the cold stone. “Hyung.” Curled up, Yeonjun really does look like a child. Was he always this small when his personality was so big? Soobin’s heart shakes at the sight. “Why are you like this?” he mumbles in Korean, reaching out to pet Yeonjun’s hair comfortingly. 

Yeonjun’s shoulders shake as his hand closes tighter over his mouth. 

Soobin’s heart clenches. In English: “What happened?” 

Yeonjun works to uncover his mouth, trying to pull his breathing together. “I.failed,” he chokes quietly, a sharp sob following it. “It’s all fucking falling apart,” he cries, his expression absolutely heartbreaking. His eyes are puffy and red and his cupid’s bow is flushed from crying so much.

Soobin quickly scoots to sit next to Yeonjun. He puts a hand on Yeonjun’s arm, stroking it with his thumb soothingly. “It’s okay,” he says, wishing he had better words with which to comfort him. 

Yeonjun continues to sob recklessly, his hands balling up in tight fists. 

Soobin takes out his wand, idly casting a barrier spell at the end of the hallway. A thin illusion of a stone wall appears, hopefully redirecting anyone who tries to come their way. He throws his wand to his bag, returning his focus to the sobbing Yeonjun. “It’s okay,” he whispers in Korean, pulling him into his chest. Soobin wraps an arm around him and pets his hair softly, allowing the Slytherin to rest his head. 

Yeonjun submits, still wailing with his arms locked in front of his chest. After a minute or two, he unlocks them, wrapping them around Soobin as if he might disappear. 

Soobin breathes shallowly. A word is turning on his tongue— a word that’s been pounding in his head for weeks. He wants to say it. But besides being scared of it, he thinks it’s possible that Yeonjun could still recognize it. What if his mother says it to him all the time? What if that’s the _ one _ Korean word he knows? 

Soobin won’t risk it. So he wraps Yeonjun tighter in his arms, planting a baby kiss on top of his head. “형이 별들하고 달이에요.”_ You are the stars and the moon_. It’s cheesy even by Korean standards, but it’s the truest thing he’s said in a while. It feels right. 

Yeonjun quiets against his chest. Then, without saying anything, he releases Soobin, and Soobin abides, allowing him to sit up by himself. He crosses his arms, his face absolutely wrecked with tears and redness but also terribly blank. His mouth hangs open and he breathes almost silently. 

Soobin looks away out of consideration, waiting. 

“Don’t tell Beomgyu about this,” Yeonjun croaks, his voice nonexistent. “Or Kai or anybody.” 

Soobin nods. “I won’t.” 

Yeonjun pats his eyes with his sleeve, taking deep breaths. “My grades suck this term. I needed this exam to go well to—” His breath catches on a sob, so he pauses to collect himself again. “To stay on the team,” he finishes without voice. 

Soobin’s heart goes out to him. “Are you sure you failed? Sometimes we—” 

“I stared at the first question for 20 minutes before handing it in.” 

_ Well, that’s… an automatic fail_. “So, Quidditch…” 

“I can’t play next term. My teammates were counting on me to pass and I fucking failed.” 

Soobin sighs, wracking his brain. _ I wish I had the words_. “It’s okay.” He looks over at Yeonjun, who meets his eyes warily. “I know that it feels unforgivable… but you’re doing well. You’re a good person… you have a lot of friends… you’re really good at Quidditch and flying, which would be more impossible for me than becoming a singer.” 

Yeonjun snorts despite himself, causing Soobin to smile. 

“Um, you always have good energy, and you… you _ glow_.” _ And? _ The world turns. The _ word _ turns. “I—" Say it. Say it! _"_I_ respect _ you a lot.” 

Soobin wants to bang his head against the wall.

But Yeonjun remains peaceful. After a moment, he tentatively pats Soobin’s thigh. “Can you let me be alone for a while?” He squeezes, his gaze in a far-off place. “I need to think.”

The Gryffindor watches his expression, trying to gauge if that’s really what Yeonjun needs. But he has no clue what he’s going through.

Soobin has to trust him. “Okay,” he practically whispers. He slowly stands up, retrieving his bag and wand carefully. As he breaks the cast barrier, the word finally translates on his tongue. “Yeonjun,” he calls out.

His fox boy looks up. 

For just a moment, his bravery sets in: “I like it when you call me Soobinie.” 

He turns tail without waiting for a reaction.


	13. (mom, am i allowed to?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is the full chapter.

On Thursday, Soobin studies with Taehyun at Slytherin practice. Afterwards, Taehyun disappears with Beomgyu almost right away, so Yeonjun helps Soobin with his flying. His calluses are smaller but more secure now. He’s starting to feel like his old self, but every now and again, his body panics. _ IT'S WRONG IT'S WRONG_, it tries to warn him. “You’ve got it, just a little farther!” Yeonjun calls at that time. Soobin relaxes 1% more.


	14. Snow Day

Another dream interrupted.

"Soobin."

Soobin turns over in his bed, glancing up through heavy eyes. His roommate Yuuto comes in, shuffling in his slippers as he plops down on his bed. Soobin starts to yawn, stretching his weary muscles as he glances out the window, scrunching his face at the bright white outside. "Hm?"

Yuuto lies down, sighing through his reply as he faces away from Soobin. "Snow day."

Soobin starts to shoot up out of bed but stops short. "Wait, who said that?"

Yuuto doesn't even turn around, as if trying to will himself to fall asleep. "I don't know. Everyone's saying it. It's posted in the Common Room, too."

Hogwarts never gets snow days. This, Soobin knows to be true.

"Oh, and that Ravenclaw kid is calling for you. He said be out in five wearing snow trousers or he'll tell Daniel Choi that you're in love with him."

"IAM**NOT**INLOVEWITHDANIELCHOI!" Soobin yells, rage shooting through his body as he throws the covers off, nearly tripping over his own rug as he books it to the closet.

Yuuto sighs, mumbling "I didn't ask" into the sheets as he truly wills himself to sleep despite the ruckus.

Two minutes later, Soobin is swinging out of the Gryffindor Common Room with heaving breath. 

[KOR: Start.] "Good, you made it," Taehyun approves, patting his hyung's shoulder as he begins to walk. The Ravenclaw is dressed smartly in a long padded coat and stylish pants that tuck into sleek Timberlands.

Meanwhile, Soobin marches along in hand-me-down snow pants that swoosh loudly with _every step_. He follows closely behind, livid. "Taehyun, you can't tell people so easily about things that you don't know."

Taehyun glances over his shoulder. "Sorry, did you say something? I couldn't hear you over your pants."

Soobin snorts. "Ya, Kang Taehyun." He quickly realizes where they are and drops his annoyance. "Are we going to the courtyard?"

"Yeah, but first we're meeting Beomgyu and Yeonjun at the announcement board. I think they should already be there." Taehyun looks back. "I got as far as your common room but your roommate scared me into waiting outside. He wasn't even impressed when I spoke Japanese to him."

"He doesn't speak Japanese."

"Oh." Pause. "So that's why I waited 20 minutes."

Soobin can't help but laugh, following his younger friend upstairs. "You're just unlucky. Yuuto really hates Ravenclaws. He quit being a prefect last year because the Japanese Ravenclaws kept trying to engage with him."

"Ah, Chiyo and the gang. Yeah, they're like that. Even I can't be around them for long," Taehyun laments, slowing down a little to walk beside Soobin. "Does he prefer white people?"

"I think he prefers his owl." Adding: "And that girl on the Gryffindor team. Laura? Laura—"

"Laura Hall?"

"Yeah. With the really long hair."

"Wow yeah, she's pretty."

"Yeah," Soobin agrees, slowing down as they come up to the main board. "I finally met her last year when she came up to us in the Common Room to ask Yuuto for her textbook back. I seriously thought I was hallucinating. Even models don't look like that."

"And her _eyes_," Taehyun starts. "Her eyes are bigger than mine…"

Soobin spots Beomgyu emerging out of the ether holding a finger to his lips as he and Soobin make eye contact. He tiptoes up behind Taehyun, being absolutely silent with an excited smile on his face.

"…stunning. She's so stunning. If I wasn't with Beomgyu—"

Soobin's eyes blow wide open. "BABABABA," he loudly interrupts, stopping Taehyun in his idiot track.

But it's too late. Beomgyu's cheeky expression falls, his smile instantly disappearing as he steps back.

Soobin panics, continuing to vocalize. "BAbablack sheep," he weakly sings, clapping awkwardly. "Dadadadada!" 

Taehyun stares blankly, evidently none the wiser. "Isn't it 'Have you any wool?'" 

"Ah, you're right," Soobin feigns, lightly slapping Taehyun's shoulder. "I couldn't remember the line, it was bothering me. You're so smart." He suddenly swivels his head to look at Beomgyu. "Oh wow, Beomgyu's here!" he expresses with his best acting.

Beomgyu fixes his expression in time for Taehyun to turn around. The Slytherin smiles. "Have you guys been waiting long?" he asks nicely.

Soobin watches the tension melt from Taehyun's shoulders as he looks on at his boyfriend. The Ravenclaw shakes his head. "We really just got here," he replies, reaching out to squeeze Beomgyu's hand.

Beomgyu shows the slightest flinch. It hurts to watch. He quickly corrects his facial expression, addressing them both evenly. “We can just go. Yeonjun's Apparitions professor gave failing students an extra credit opportunity, so he’s working on that."

So they start walking along the corridors, passing other students (some in winter gear, some not). Soobin notes how Beomgyu's hands stay locked in his coat pockets while Taehyun's hang freely, his left hand opening and closing idly.

Soobin tries not to look. “Did he say how long it might take?” 

Beomgyu shrugs, exhaling as he looks back at Soobin with a small smile. “He doesn’t know either, but I told him the itinerary. He’ll meet us when he gets out,” he assures. With a heaping breath, he throws an arm around the Gryffindor, his grin expanding. “I just can’t believe the flak I’m about to get from Slytherins for willingly hanging out with you,” he jokes in casual language, cranking a whining Soobin down to his height. “Shrink a little so I can hit you properly.” 

“Ya, is that any way to talk to your hyung?” Soobin questions, smiling despite the discomfort. He looks up for Taehyun’s help, but the Ravenclaw is steps ahead, taking a selca as he walks. “Wow, unbelievable,” he chokes out. 

"A three-month age difference ain't crap," Beomgyu reminds him before grinning at a couple of Slytherin boys who pass them by. They whoop and holler, giving Beomgyu thumbs-ups for his conquest. Only then does he release Soobin, giving the _slightly_-older boy a pat on the back. 

The Gryffindor frowns, straightening out his neck as they walk along. "Ugh." He never does find it worth it to fight. "By the way, do you know why it's a snow day? I didn't get to look at the post in my common room."

Beomgyu stretches his arms, idly watching Taehyun. "Honestly, I don't get it either. I read the post in the Dungeon like five times but the language was so confusing. Made me seriously reconsider my English level, but none of the guys on the team understood either. Hogwarts has never canceled classes for snow."

Soobin nods. "What did it say though?"

"Uh, I thought it was something about defense testing, but then it started talking about health concerns and even like a religious holiday, I think? I have no clue."

Soobin looks up as two professors speed-walk past them. “Maybe someone's sick—”

But then Taehyun opens the door into the courtyard and all is forgotten at the sight.

First snow.

The Middle Courtyard, which has been green-brown as of late from overuse, is now layered in a thick blanket of pure white. Snow pours down from the sky, creating shelves on the central fountain. The three boys look on in awe.

“Whoa,” Soobin breathes. Time seems to stop. He gazes out, his worries flickering away. Nothing but beauty.

Beomgyu grins. “Let’s go!” he yells, leading their vanguard out into the courtyard. A few other students are out playing as well, but it looks like most opted to sleep in late in light of exam season. 

However, Koreans always take the chance to play. So they play _ hard_. They throw snowballs and roll around and eat falling snowflakes, laughing like children. Soobin feels like he’s seven years old again.

> _ "Soobin!" Eunha yells. "Soobin-ah, don't go too far!"_
> 
> _"I won't!" But Soobin keeps running on that open field. The ground looks like the sky. The only thing betraying the white-on-white is the mountains. _
> 
> _Mountains that loom forever._

He _is_ that child, running without a care in the world. Beomgyu and Taehyun seem to transform too, their childlike selves shining through the everyday mask of serious study.

As he looks around at his friends who beam brighter than the snow, Soobin thinks that it must be a miracle to be alive.

And alive he becomes. Time washes by, and as they play, their momentum builds, climaxing in Soobin holding up an iceberg of a snowball. He intently stares down a panting Taehyun and Beomgyu, who are grinning and poised to run. They laugh brightly, shifting their feet nervously as Soobin flirts at coming closer. His grin inexplicably widens and, despite his shyness, he feels impelled to scream a deafening “_**I LOVE YOU!**_” as he finally sprints to chase them, launching his snowball without much thought as to who he wants to hit.

Beomgyu, a worthy victim, goes down like a bird with a yelp. He almost immediately seeks revenge, coming back with his own mountain of a snowball. He chases Soobin around the courtyard, panting and yelling like a Neanderthal warrior. 

Just as Soobin is about to pass the entrance for the umpteenth time, Beomgyu's lightning speed slowed down by the ever-compounding snow and his winter gear, he spots a uniform-clad Kai stepping into the courtyard. Sensing an opportunity, Soobin runs around the Hufflepuff and seizes him by the shoulders, (“Why why why why?!”), pushing him towards Beomgyu as the Slytherin launches his shot. It hits Kai square in the chest, causing him to let out a silly high-pitched scream as he puts his hands up in delayed defense. Soobin laughs goofily, running away. “Hey!” Kai yells, a smile evident in his voice. “I have to go do a make-up exam!” he complains, brushing the snow off his woolen uniform. 

Soobin calls out a half-serious “Sorry!” and throws him a cheeky finger heart before screaming as Beomgyu gets close with another snowball.

As the Slytherin finally tackles him, Soobin hears Kai call out “See you!”. He doesn’t see that the Hufflepuff's flushed and flustered face isn’t really because of the snow.


	15. What do you see?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .. .-.. .-.. -.- . . .--. .. - -.-. .- .-. . ..-. ..- .-.. .-.. -.--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daniel = Yeonjun.
> 
> AN: i'm not going to reply to comments anymore :( it's getting hard to avoid spoiling things and i don't wanna be a bother by taking up the comments section. THANK YOU for your lovely words though-- i read them all!

It wasn't because of the snow. Kai doesn't know how to say it. He can hardly feel his shoes as he patters along corridors, sorting himself out. He wipes the baby tears that start to well up in his eyes, reprimanding himself for having a pity party. He's the one who messed up with Soobin. Stupid, stupid kid who listened to his friends. Forced a kiss, kissed him _again_ without consent. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid Soobin for forgiving him. Stupid Kai for continuing to like him, to like his smile, his _laugh_ when he plays in the snow.

Soobin doesn't care. Soobin has moved on.

Kai is the only one still stuck,

_struggling_ to push the heavy door open into the Great Hall. Beautiful lights envelop Kai's sight, warming his eyes. The heat of students' bodies and fresh lunch combine to soothe him from the outside in as he scans the hall. He shivers in his snow-dampened uniform and decides to remove his jumper as he appraises the tables. The late risers are finally out and about and chatting away, but there’s still plenty of seating. He recalls his new Hufflepuff friends saying they were going to the library to study. _Maybe I should go too_, he ponders, walking along the edges hesitantly.

It’s then that he sees a hand wave excitedly to him from the far corner: Daniel, wearing the brightest smile. "Kai!" the Slytherin yells over the chatter.

Kai grins in turn, willing away his little sadness as he jogs over, his face still flushed. “Hi," he greets, converting to English as he sits across from the Slytherin. Daniel is also dressed in uniform, but in his outer robes too— far more formal than everyone else in the hall wearing street clothes. "Why are you in robes?" the Hufflepuff asks, slipping off his bag and folding his jumper to lay on top of it.

"I _know_. I left before they announced the snow day," Daniel complains loudly, seeming entirely carefree as he swallows a large bite of his half-eaten sandwich. He washes it down with a swig of cola. "I haven't had time to change, so here we are."

Kai hums in understanding, closing his eyes when he feels the world start to spin a little. He sniffles, retracting the bit of fluid that starts to peek out from his nose.

"Aw," Daniel coos, tossing a napkin across the table. "What, have you been playing in the snow?" he asks, smiling lightly.

Kai huffs, his shoulders relaxing. “Soobin sacrificed me to Beomgyu. Can you believe it?” he laughs, having a sip of water. “Are you going to play too? Do you have time?” 

Daniel makes a little sound of confirmation, finishing off his cola. “Yeah, I just wanted to recharge a little before meeting you guys.” He glances at his watch, his eyes bulging. “Oh shit, we're late. Come on, I'll change really quick.” He promptly starts sifting through his bag.

"Oh, no." Kai puts up his hand. “I'm not coming."

Daniel stops short, furrowing his brows. "You're not? Why not? Are you playing with some other friends?" His eyes gaze so intensely and with such kindness that Kai almost forgets himself.

"Uh. No." Kai debates silently. He shouldn't say it, not in front of the boy Soobin so obviously likes. And yet: “Soobin and I are in a bit of a weird spot right now.” 

"Something you wanna talk about?"

Kai is a good person. _I'm a good person, right?_ He starts to get that tight feeling in his throat again looking at Daniel. "Yes." _Sick. I feel sick_. That tight feeling travels down to his gut, twisting awfully. “Daniel."

Daniel laughs without humor. "Why are you so serious, Kai?"

"I can't give him up.” It comes out without planning.

Daniel's face freezes.

Kai stares, his heart pounding at his own admission. He takes a breath, his chest releasing. He can feel himself finally unknotting. It's exhilarating. So he continues. “You’re a scary rival, but I don’t want to give him up.” This is way out of bounds, _way_ out of bounds, and yet he can't find it in himself to care. It's all true. For once, he feels it. He feels the truth coursing through him. This is what he wants.

And it would be even better if he could get a read on Daniel, but the Slytherin's face shows nothing. “Soobin and I don't have anything going on, Kai."

"I don't care if you think you do or not," Kai replies evenly, surprising himself. “I'm gonna give it 100%.”

The Slytherin avoids his eyes, the corners of his mouth pulling down. He starts to stand, and for the first time, Kai thinks that Daniel looks uncomfortable. Daniel tries another laugh, but no words follow.

"I also knows that he likes you," Kai continues. "So give it your all too. I won't lose to someone who half-asses it."

Daniel quiets. "You shouldn't talk to me like that," he says, drawing the words out slowly as if trying to control himself.

Breaking. Daniel is breaking. Kai, a Hufflepuff, is breaking Daniel, the legendary Slytherin. Kai is starting to see the crack and that's how he knows to keep pushing. "Why not? You've been giving what, 10%? 30%, maybe?" he presses.

He is rewarded with pursed lips. "Careful, Kai." Daniel's voice is hardly audible over the chatter.

Kai gets bolder, rubbing salt into the wound. "You wanna know why we're in a weird spot?"

"No," the Slytherin whispers.

Before Kai can control it, the Korean slips out: "우리 둘은 벌써 두 번이나 키스 했어요." _We kissed twice already_.

Daniel's nostrils flare.

_?_

_H u h ?_

Kai's breath catches. If he blinked, he would have missed it. His eyes widen and the weight of his whole body rushes to his feet. "You—"

"I'm late." Daniel slings his bag over his shoulder, his pupils shaking.

The crack opens. For a quarter of a second, the mask comes undone. For a quarter of a second, Kai can see the horns.

"You speak Korean."

Daniel stops moving and meets his eyes. They both remain still. His expression transforms, his eyes showing steel and ice. Kai has never seen _this_ Daniel. The Slytherin speaks quietly, but his voice could cut through diamond: "I don't."

A shiver runs up Kai's spine. He's never been in anything close to a fight, but that’s a death threat if he’s ever heard one. And yet, it's because he hit the truth:

Daniel— no, _Yeonjun—_ speaks Korean. 

> _"Good boy." The woman pats Daniel on the head, lingering. "Come back when you're ready, okay?" _

Kai holds his gaze, having nothing to lose. "Are you in trouble, Yeonjun?"

Yeonjun takes a deep breath, his face returning to something more polite. "Thanks for the advice," he replies evenly, stepping out of the bench. "Can I give you some too?"

The Hufflepuff swallows.

Yeonjun takes his silence as a cue to continue. "Don't be so active." He tosses Kai another napkin. "I'll see you later."

Kai lowers his gaze, breathing shallowly as Yeonjun walks away, leaving his sight.

He feels cold.


	16. ||||||||||||||||

"Yo."

Soobin snaps out of it, looking forward as he leans back.

And there he is in all his glory: Yeonjun, jogging forward in a brilliant green jumper, heavy black coat, and grey jeans. Most of his hair is contained in a fuzzy white beanie, providing maximum access to his knife-sharp eyes.

Soobin almost cowers looking into them, but they are always so kind. "Hey," he greets back, unable to do anything but smile gently.

They've been waiting for maybe 15 minutes, Beomgyu insisting that Yeonjun would _definitely_ meet them before they left for Hogsmeade: "He literally never misses the chance to go. Give it 20 minutes tops."

Beomgyu was right. And looking at Yeonjun now, Soobin is glad he got the chance to change out of his snow clothes and into street clothes. He himself somehow managed to coordinate camel colors ("Did I always have the ability to be fashionable?"), his coat matching his trousers and boots, where his turtleneck jumper is snow-white.

Needless to say, he feels a little more presentable than usual. “Did you finish your extra credit?” Soobin asks.

It takes Yeonjun a second to focus in as he approaches as if his mind was somewhere else completely. He looks out of it. “Oh. Yeah." He doesn't elaborate as he walks up to the three boys, slowing to a stop. "Finished.”

They all remain silent. Soobin has the mind to nod slowly, _awkwardly_ as Yeonjun stares somewhere behind Soobin's shoulder.

Beomgyu coughs, cutting into the silence. “Well, let’s go,” he mutters, throwing an arm around Yeonjun to pull him along.

Soobin is grateful for it. He and Taehyun start to chat in the back while the two Slytherins walk a few strides ahead, cracking jokes that Soobin can’t hear. As the snow grows, they make their way over to Hogsmeade by foot, fighting the biting cold and falling snow all along the way. Even though they're in their street clothes, their shoes are still entirely functional. Taehyun and Beomgyu both look trendy in Timberlands and Yeonjun sleek in Doc Martens. Meanwhile, Soobin trudges along in some worn-down boots his brother sent him a month ago.

By the time they enter The Three Broomsticks, Soobin feels like his face could chip off in one piece despite his thick scarf. Taehyun also takes his off as they enter, his face looking particularly pale. Soobin murmurs “괜찮아?” _ Are you okay? _ The Ravenclaw nods, breathing through his mouth as the boys claim an open table. 

In addition to Taehyun's weirdness, Soobin notices Yeonjun almost trip on the way down to his seat. He offers in English: “Are _you_ okay?” 

“Oh. Yeah.” Yeonjun slaps himself lightly, shaking himself awake. "Just nothing. A little out of it." His expression betrays nothing. Just pleasantness; always pleasantness.

Beomgyu looks over with a smidge of worry in his eyebrows. “What time did you wake up?” he asks, looking over the posted specials. 

Yeonjun coughs. “11.” 

Beomgyu raises an eyebrow, looking directly at him. “Didn't we talk at 10?” 

“Woke up at 9:45,” Yeonjun amends unconvincingly, picking at a stripped corner of the table. 

Soobin watches him fidget.

Taehyun interjects: “Do you think you did well on the extra credit?”

Yeonjun smiles. "I think so.” 

Soobin glances over at Taehyun again, surprised by the color of his face. _So fair_, he covets in silence, shaking off his coat. “Coats,” he commands, and collects his friends’ coats before hanging them all on a nearby rack. He comes back as a waitress approaches to take orders.

Beomgyu orders a toppings-heavy burger while Taehyun orders a half-sub and a ginger ale.

“Aren’t you starving?” Soobin asks, his eyes widening.

Taehyun shakes his head, resting it in his hand as he looks down.

Soobin presses his lips together. “You really don’t eat much, do you?” he adds quietly. 

"_Ya,_" Beomgyu snaps. Soobin intended for his statement to be caring, but the blonde looks _livid_. [KOR: Start.] “Do you have to comment on how much he eats? Just ‘cause he’s skinny?” 

Soobin looks back and forth, bristling at Beomgyu's casual language. “I’m _concerned_ because none of us ate breakfast and we ran around in the snow for two hours. A half-sub isn’t enough. He's gonna pass out.” 

“_Really_?" Beomgyu mocks. "‘Cause it sound like you’re projecting.” 

Soobin has to will himself to be still, glaring hard at the Slytherin while seething. “Projecting_ what_?” he tests. 

The waitress quietly disappears, mumbling something about coming back later.

Beomgyu meets Soobin's glare. “You know what.” [KOR: End.] 

“He’s falling,” Yeonjun says casually.

Soobin and Beomgyu's eyes both snap to Taehyun, who starts to lean strangely. 

Soobin reaches out, but Beomgyu is faster, leaving his seat to catch the Ravenclaw’s upper half with his arms. He puts his hand on Taehyun’s forehead, scoffing as he encourages him up. “How does he already have a fever?”

_Ah_. Soobin’s mouth drops open. “Shit, he went for a walk last night too.” 

“And you let him come out today? Are you an idiot?”

“Stop,” Taehyun mumbles. 

“Rest," Beomgyu commands, then redirects to Soobin and Yeonjun. "I’m going to take this idiot to the clinic,” the blonde mutters, preventing Taehyun from swaying by securing an arm around his waist. “We'll see you guys later.”

Yeonjun nods. "See you."

But as the two boys leave, Soobin frowns. 

“What is it?” Yeonjun asks. 

Soobin looks down, his right pinky finger curling absently. “I noticed his face was pale earlier but I didn’t say anything.” 

“So?” 

“_So_ that’s not very Gryffindor of me.” Soobin frowns, staring downwards intently at his finger. He wishes he were skinnier. He pulls on the skin, simulating a slimmer finger. “I shouldn't have said anything about Taehyun’s food. I was just...” 

“I think... maybe I understand you a little better now.”

Soobin finally looks up at Yeonjun, who rests his head in one hand.

He looks back at Soobin fondly, and Soobin finds himself entirely disarmed as the Slytherin's eyes travel from Soobin's eyes downward, then suddenly up to his bangs. "Ah. You have a little—" Yeonjun starts to point.

Soobin sits up, quickly filing through his bangs with his fingers. _Please don't be dandruff. Please don't be dandruff_. "Did I get it?"

Yeonjun laughs and shakes his head. "To the right."

Soobin can't feel anything but hair, becoming more anxious. If it's dandruff, he really might die. He really wishes he had a phone on him or _any_ kind of mirror.

"No, you—" Yeonjun swats Soobin's hand away and leans forward to delicately reach into Soobin's hair.

The Gryffindor doesn't even breathe, can do nothing but stare at Yeonjun's focused eyes. Eyes that aren't even focused on him. _Isn't that fitting_, Soobin thinks.

Yeonjun finally pulls on a particular strand, catching the offending irregularity between his fingertips.

If he's Yeonjun, he should pull it out swiftly. Maybe have Soobin make a wish on it. That would be cute. Yeonjun would do that kind of thing and it would make Soobin's heart thrum in his throat, but he could handle it.

But Yeonjun pulls it steadily, concentrating on something that Soobin can't really detect. And then, like a breeze, Yeonjun's hand is carding through Soobin's bangs gently.

Oh boy. Soobin's jaw falls open, his entire body freezing at the movement. Familiar. So familiar. Familiar like they're... “You're anxious a lot, aren't you?” Yeonjun murmurs.

Soobin’s stomach twists and throat clenches. But Yeonjun, oblivious(?) Yeonjun, just smiles, brushing Soobin’s bangs, _still_ not looking at Soobin directly. He brushes the hairs away from the Gryffindor's forehead, the motion coming dangerously close to stroking his face. Soobin could die, really die. Yeonjun is smiling and looking so fond and Soobin can just get lost in this. Could. If he let himself.

In the corner of his eye, Soobin sees a grey-haired man start to walk by. He glances up. The man is staring straight at him, his expression rigid.

Like a muscle, Soobin pulls back harshly.

Yeonjun’s hand freezes in space.

Soobin looks out a nearby window and clears his throat. “You know, I think— Maybe coming out wasn’t a good idea. The OWLs—”

He makes a move to stand up but is stopped by Yeonjun grabbing his wrist, holding him there, finally making eye contact.

Here they are, just like always, facing off without revealing anything.

Soobin breathes very quietly. _Don't_.

Hurt crosses Yeonjun’s eyes before he lets Soobin go, getting up himself. “Let’s go then.” He doesn’t even look at Soobin when he tosses him his coat. 

Soobin’s stomach unties, but as he follows him out the door, he can’t help but feel that Yeonjun looks different: his broad shoulders hardly move, bound to his torso as he walks. Stiff. Like he was built in one piece.

They walk along the main drag of Hogsmeade in silence, trudging through the fresh snowfall that seems to refill each new footprint. They don't even talk about meeting Beomgyu and Taehyun at the clinic, simply making their way back to Hogwarts directly.

Unfortunately, the snow is far too thick to support anything faster than a glacial pace.

Soobin keeps pace a few meters behind Yeonjun, clearing his throat for small talk. "We might get 50 centimeters at this rate."

Yeonjun does not answer. Does not even turn.

The Gryffindor redirects, "admiring" the trees that start to line their sides as they cross onto the path to Hogwarts. With the piling snow, no one else seems to be making this same attempt to cross between locations. The path is entirely empty and Soobin wonders if they discouraged students from leaving Hogwarts because of weather conditions.

_Weather_. Soobin reaches for his wand in his back pocket but only finds his wallet. _Shit_. A heat spell could clear the snow in their way.

But without his wand, Soobin has no choice but to ask. Building up the courage: "Do you have your wand?" he calls out. "Could be faster."

"It’s in repair."

Weakly: "Ah." Soobin clears his throat quietly, taking a deeper breath as he carefully treks through the snow that is halfway to his knees.

_Calm down_.

Soobin smiles, hoping that it shines through in his voice. "Yeah, I don’t have mine either," he laments jokingly. "Didn't think it'd be like this. Could really use a heat spell right about now, right?"

He expects Yeonjun to fill the space with his effortless social grace, but the Slytherin continues to stagnate, maintaining silence and leaving Soobin's remarks unanswered.

Soobin's legs ache. His throat burns. He slows down unwittingly, watching Yeonjun gain distance ahead of him without looking back. Without even caring.

_Why? _

_Why is he like this? _

The Gryffindor gives into his exhaustion and stops in his tracks. From his belly, he projects his voice: "What?"

Yeonjun finally comes to a halt and turns his head to look at Soobin. His eyes are so cold.

Soobin stares back. "Do you hate me now or something?"

Yeonjun’s expression tightens.

Soobin is tired. So tired. His feet are throbbing, his face is losing feeling, and his heart is hurting. "_What_?" he repeats, refusing to go on without an explanation.

"I wanna stop."

Soobin can hardly see Yeonjun's face through the falling snow. "Stop what?"

But Yeonjun just stares at him as if Soobin already knows the answer. As if it has been obvious from the beginning.

Of course it has.

He swallows the lump in his throat, his walls thickening. "Then stop," he derides through his teeth, bristling and bristling. "I’ve told you over and over to stop."

Yeonjun nods curtly, then starts to walk away.

Soobin follows. "You know you’re a real coward?" he continues, the words flowing relentlessly. "Even a 14-year-old Hufflepuff is more sincere than you are."

It’s cruel. Really cruel. But Yeonjun keeps walking.

"You must be ecstatic right now." Soobin can't keep up, not against Yeonjun's long legs, but he follows in earnest. "Really, the Slytherin in you is probably popping champagne. Are you happy? Are you happy that you messed around with me?"

Soobin’s blood reaches boiling point.

Muttering: "I guess it’s true that snakes have no backbone."

Yeonjun whips around with wand in hand, shooting a spell at Soobin without a word spoken.

The icy white ball blasts through the Gryffindor's sternum before he can even react, sending him flying back several meters. He lands on his back with a thump, just barely twisting enough to impact his shoulder rather than his head in the snow. It all happens in a split second.

And then it’s over.

Yeonjun stands very still as Soobin groans softly, weakly pulling himself to a sitting position. He coughs with effort, his head spinning. He feels the spell pounding in his chest and presses there, his gloved hand doing nothing to warm it.

"You wanna talk about backbone?"

Soobin looks up.

The curtain of snow is heavy, but through cracks, Soobin can see tears and red cheeks. Yeonjun's pained expression against the white snowfall is terrifying and beautiful and heartbreaking.

The Slytherin smiles. _"Okay,"_ he chokes out. "Fine. I'm exactly what everyone thinks I am." He takes a breath. "Kai is right. Beomgyu is right. Everyone is right about me, so _fine_.

This is me giving 100%."

His eyes darken.

"Don’t talk to me at school anymore. 

Don’t gaze at me like a fucking stray dog.

Don’t wave to me.

_ You _ leave _ me _ alone.

I want nothing to do with you."

Soobin’s breathing quiets. They stare at each other. 

"But this is what you wanted all along, right?" A sob quietly chokes Yeonjun.

Soobin's eyes well up. "Hyung—"

Yeonjun violently spits on the ground.

Soobin's heart stutters in his chest as the Slytherin walks away. His figure grows more and more unfamiliar, growing smaller and smaller until it disappears completely.

He doesn’t know how long he sits there. New tears stain his cheeks as he remains silent, consciously breathing through his nose as he cries for no one for what feels like eternity.

He only comes to when a small hare crosses his path. It leaps through the snow earnestly, its tiny body propelling itself every few seconds.

_ Pathetic_.

But truthfully, when the hare succeeds, Soobin feels envious. Without realizing it, he stands, his nearly-numb toes coming alive as he begins to walk. 

His 16th birthday passes like that.


	17. Dealer's Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -.. .. - -.-. .... / -.-- --- ..- .-. / .- -.-. .

“Excuse me?”

“If you do it, you’ll be allowed to play Quidditch next term.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Slorians approved it and Professor Ito has only raved about you in Frog Choir.”

“I joined as a joke."

“She doesn’t seem to think you treat it that way.”

“My extra credit won’t pass me?”

“As I said before, it only adds ten points.”

“Please, there has to be another way. I— I _ have _ to go home for Christmas.”

“Then we have to fail you.”

Yeonjun closes his eyes. “I can't afford to fail.”

“Then sing.”


	18. Friendship, pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue is entirely in Korean!

Saturday night.

_Deep breath, Kai._

He obeys himself, inhaling as he stares down a dark staircase. _One, two, three, four, five._

Hold. _One, two_.

Exhale. _One, two, three, four, five, six, seven_,— he takes a step— _eight, nine_—!

“Kai?"

Kai grips the rail, freezing as he turns.

Kang Taehyun stares wide-eyed back at him, clothed in a rich, cozy Ravenclaw jumper and plaid sleep bottoms. If Kai didn't know any better, he might be going to bed, but his expression betrays him. Taehyun's ordinarily-flawless face shows signs of wear and exhaustion under the light of his lantern. Kai has never seen him quite like this, bearing disheveled hair, dark under-eye circles, and an unabashedly surprised expression. Somehow, it seems that they are both caught. “What are you doing?”

Kai swallows. While he didn't anticipate other students at this time of night (read: almost curfew), he isn't opposed to company. As far as he knows, Taehyun has had little involvement with Yeonjun, so he could be useful. On top of that, he’s smart. (And he has a lantern.) With the two of them, there might be a better chance at discovering more of the hidden truth. “Do you want to help me?”

Taehyun looks between Kai and the basement stairs like he's putting the pieces together. Conclusion: “Are you scared?”

“_No_,” Kai protests, pouting. "I've been down there so many times—"

“Come on."

And so he is lightly pushed to the side as a sighing Taehyun takes the first brave steps downstairs, leaving Kai no choice but to follow. (Well, he has a choice, but for once it would be nice to have a light.)

He follows, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he chews on the inside of his lip. The lantern acts as a kaleidoscope, manipulating light on the walls as Kai trots down behind Taehyun. A rabbit. A fish. A bear's ears. A large eye.

A particularly thick flap of skin on his bottom lip has Kai wincing when he tears it with his teeth. He can feel that familiar sensation of tiny blood globs wetting the corner of his mouth.

> _"Stop chewing, Kai. You'll bleed again."_

He never did get over that habit. But funny enough, that familiar nagging from his father triggers a memory far more fresh.

> _"Careful, Kai."_

Goosebumps rise on the back of his neck as Taehyun hits the ground first, holding up the lantern to illuminate the corridor.

Kai swallows, watching Taehyun with his mouth half-open. He hasn’t told anyone about Yeonjun. He doesn’t know the extent of it, doesn’t know who knows, doesn’t know if it actually means anything at all. But he can’t forget that look in Yeonjun’s eyes— that terrified look like he’d been found out.

Found out about what, though?

"Now what?" Taehyun asks, his breath just visible in the cold air. He looks decidedly less distracted than before.

Maybe now isn't the best time for Kai to reveal what he knows. “Straight," he directs, supplementing with a sliding-forward hand gesture.

Taehyun nods, trailing along in diligence. That doesn't dismiss the fact that he looks completely out of place down here, though. Against the dankness of the mildewed stone walls, Taehyun in his fluffy sweater looks like a displaced angel.

Still, his attitude remains pleasant. “This is my first time down here.” 

Kai nods. "You'll probably want to be quiet, though," he murmurs, his cadence a bit stilted. But despite the awkwardness of the silence, his feet remain undeterred, remembering his previous trip down here. Almost like a reflex, he starts walking on the outside of his shoes, his steps quieting.

Taehyun looks back but doesn't question the instruction (although his head starts to jerk like he expects a horror movie jump-scare).

"Ah. Here." As they approach, Kai finally slows to a stop, facing left. Now he comes face-to-face with it. Kai doesn't know what he was expecting the door to look like, but it wasn't... this. Under the light of Taehyun's lantern, which the Ravenclaw holds up with both hands now, the unfinished plywood door seems to mock Kai. Plain. So plain that the knob is nothing but an unfitting jet-black bulb. So plain that there is no distinction of a nameplate or even a hint of where one might have once been. _Still, this has to be the door_. Kai furrows his brows.

Feeling Taehyun's burning stare, he finally turns to appease his friend's curiosity. “I think a professor uses this room,” he whispers, pressing his hand on the door. The dry wood almost murmurs under his touch, pressing back against his fingertips gently. Like it wants to tell him something.

_Ah_.

He pulls out his wand from his back pocket and backs up, taking a deep breath as he does so. Inhale. _One, two, three, four, five._

With a precise swish of his wand, Kai aims for the center of the door. “_Revelio_.”

The wood on the door ripples. From the corner of his eye, Kai sees Taehyun jump back like it’ll reach out and bite him.

When the visage settles, letters carved into the wood come into the light, spelling out a name.

“Why does she have an office down here?” Taehyun breathes.

Kai whips around. “You know her?”

Taehyun nods at the name. “She doesn’t go to occasions in the Great Hall because of an autoimmune disease, so you wouldn’t know her.” He shivers audibly like he's ready to leave. “The thing is, she has an office near Headmaster Slorians’. There’s no reason for her to have one down here too— not when it’s so dusty and she’s sick like she is.”

Kai exhales, fiddling with his wand. Taehyun is right: he doesn't recognize the name. As a third-year, he doesn't recognize the name. As someone who knows the castle grounds like the back of his hand, he doesn't recognize the name. If Taehyun says she has an office near Slorians', then she must not leave much.

A woman who exists in solitude.

“Hold on,” Taehyun starts, interrupting Kai's thought train. “How can you do Revelio?”

Kai shrugs. “We were taught it last year.”

“I just remember it being really difficult. Even now...” Taehyun's eyes alight and his mouth lifts into a smile. “You gotta be my date to Duelement.”

“I— what?”

"Oh, this is gonna be so good. _Kai_." Like a door-to-door campaigner, Taehyun straightens up boldly. “There are 32 of us who restarted Dueling Club this year. Me, Beomgyu, and Daniel are all in it and we all get a plus-one for the final meeting this term.”

Kai feels a bit out of his element with such an invitation. The last club meeting he went to was in primary school for origami. _Dueling club_? Kai tries a nervous smile, trying to more calm himself than anything else. “What, is it like a party or something?”

Taehyun tilts his head in thought. “Kind of.” His smile spreads eagerly. "You'll come with me, right?"

“Um, I don't know," he mumbles, his eyes finding the name on the door. "I think I wanna keep... working on this.”

Taehyun blinks back like he's remembering where they are. “Ah. How about this?” His eyes go so wide and intense that Kai wonders if the Ravenclaw will turn into a giant eyeball. “_I’m_ in her class. I’ll help you with whatever this—” he waves to the door “—is, and you’ll be my Duelement date.”

Kai’s mouth stays tightly shut as he debates his options. True: a party wouldn't take more than a few hours off his downtime, but it's not really about that. Taehyun says Yeonjun will be there and he would rather eat a slug than see the Slytherin in the flesh after their standoff in the Great Hall.

But a party could be good for him. He already spends a lot of time by himself since losing all of his friends in the Great First Kiss Disaster of 20XX. He wants more friends, and presumably... He exhales. _Presumably_ Soobin won't be there. So he can relax. He can stay glued to Taehyun and Beomgyu and avoid Yeonjun and make new friends without freaking out about his horrible, awful crush.

Interrupting his thought train for the second time that night is a voice in the distance speaking indistinctly.

Yeonjun’s voice.

Taehyun and Kai look at the same time.

Before Taehyun can open his mouth to speak, Kai's hand is closed over it. His own lips press tightly together as he shakes his head vehemently. Although Taehyun's eyebrows show concern, his jaw shuts. So without so much as a breath, Kai releases him, bending down to open the lantern.

“Kai—”

The flame goes out with Kai's breath.

Cast into darkness, he grasps Taehyun’s free hand, beginning to move forward. In blackness, the corridor is just as he remembers, and he is just as the corridor remembers. Mouse and tunnel. While he moves expertly, Taehyun fumbles every few steps, clearly not adjusted to the dark. Kai squeezes in promise, urging his friend along as they begin to walk in haste.

By the time they find the next closest staircase, they’re running, the two boys quietly panting. Light seeps down from above, so Kai releases Taehyun’s hand, bounding up two by two like his life depends on it.

Taehyun clambers to meet him at the top, letting out a long groan in protest. “What is this? Why are we avoiding Daniel?” he breathes.

Kai skips a little, intending to move just far away enough that Yeonjun wouldn't be inclined to investigate any noise. 

_Daniel. Right_. Taehyun calls Yeonjun 'Daniel.' And maybe he is Daniel. So Kai checks. “Daniel doesn’t understand Korean, right?”

Taehyun furrows his brows, catching up to him as his breath regulates. “Right…” Out of the blue, he scoffs. “Is this some weird thing about Soobin? Because you’re both in love with him? Seriously, no offense, but hyung isn’t exactly my pick for a heartthrob.”

Kai scoffs in turn, sighing a little more dramatically than he intended. They walk along the first floor, the moonlight at least seeping in through the windows to light their way. And yet, Kai feels more lost than before. “Tyun, I don’t know what to do.”

“You don’t have to.”

Kai glances at Taehyun, whose eyes are glued straight ahead. Despite his kind words, he looks kind of sad.

“Nobody knows what they're doing. I don't know what I'm doing.”

"How is that possible?" Kai laughs. "You're the most put-together person I know."

Taehyun shrugs. "Beomgyu wants to break up." He smiles almost impossibly, and Kai just stares at him, his brain whirring in shock. "How's that for put-together?"

“Wait, _what_?”

“Sorry," he apologizes without much steam. "I’ve just— I've been keeping it to myself. Soobin was really distracted this morning so I couldn't bring it up, but it’s. It's eating me alive.”

Kai sputters: “But— But I saw you guys just yesterday—”

“I don’t know either.” Taehyun looks down, and Kai follows, finding cute bear slippers on the Ravenclaw’s feet. The sides are stained dark brown with the dirt from the basement, infecting the pure cream color of the bear's face. “We’re just…” He clears his throat. “We decided on a break. So it’s hard.” He looks up. “I would’ve invited you anyway, but now I could really use your company. Duelement will be really fun. I promise.”

And _now_ how can Kai refuse? “What’s the dress code?”

Taehyun shows a hint of a smile. “Standard robes. And I’ll tell you everything I know about that professor.”

“Deal.”


	19. Friendship, pt. 2

Sunday morning.

The sharp pain of a harsh slap has Soobin waking up in an instant, his body flailing wildly in defense.

[KOR: Start.] “I should fucking kill you,” Beomgyu fumes, following the first slap with more hitting and pinching until Soobin is yelping and standing up on his own bed. Unfortunately, the Gryffindor is too tall for the slanted ceiling, so he hits his head, sending him falling back down. Beomgyu hits him one more time for effect. “You both are fucking morons. Seriously, I should get paid for putting up with this shit at all.”

“You must be out of your fucking mind!” Soobin bursts out, surprising himself. He glares back at Beomgyu, throwing a finger in his face. “Apologize, asshole.”

Beomgyu’s nostrils flare, and in an instant his hand is cutting across Soobin’s cheek again, an audible clap reverberating across the room.

The sting of it has all the blood in Soobin’s body rising. “You fucking—” He grabs Beomgyu’s collar, shoving him as he himself awkwardly hops out of bed. He tackles the Slytherin to the floor, fighting him with as much strength as he can muster having been unconscious not 30 seconds ago. “Piece of shit! You break into my room to jump me?” he screams, wrestling a yelling Beomgyu.

Soobin has the advantage in sheer size, but Beomgyu is trickier. The Slytherin turns his head to bite down on Soobin’s wrist, digging in and growling until the Gryffindor is crying out, jerking away.

“You—” Beomgyu pushes the advantage, shoving Soobin onto his back. “Son of a bitch, who taught you to fucking communicate!?”

Soobin lets out a long yell, kicking Beomgyu repeatedly and wiggling his torso. “Get off me!”

Beomgyu locks his legs around Soobin’s, forcing the Gryffindor’s legs into stillness. “Fucking— _ idiot_!”

With that, Soobin collapses, submitting to being pinned down as he pants, his face flushed with embarrassment. “Get off me, you ass, I’m fucking sorry about what I said to Taehyun, okay?”

Beomgyu releases one of Soobin’s arms to slap him again, just as hard as the first time.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” Soobin yells, thrusting his freed arm out to strike, but his attempt at escape is short-lived when Beomgyu captures his wrist and pins him down again.

“I’m not here about him, idiot,” Beomgyu groans, panting in short breaths. “Not like I have any right to defend him anymore.”

Soobin’s glare fades momentarily as he blinks. “What the fuck are you talking about.”

“We’re on a break.”

“You— you _broke_ _up_ with him?!”

“_ Break_, we took a _ break_. It’s _fine_.”

“What— you guys were literally _just_ fine!”

“We _are_ fine—!”

“Is this about Laura Hall?” Soobin bursts out, but descends into a high whine when Beomgyu presses into the veins on his wrist. “OkayokayuncleuncleMERCYMERCYMERCY,” he cries. When Beomgyu finally lets up the pressure, he pants, suddenly realizing that beads of sweat are forming on his forehead. He feels light-headed. “God, am _ I _ the one with the fucking communication problem here?”

“I don’t want to hear that from you,” Beomgyu grits, frowning intensely.

So the boys stare at each other, breathing hard. “Then let’s talk.” Soobin swallows, analyzing Beomgyu’s twisted expression. “We’ve always misunderstood each other, right? So let’s fucking talk.”

Beomgyu pulls his bottom lip into his mouth, his grip noticeably lightening up.

_ Oh boy_. Soobin opens his mouth, attempting to level his expression. “You came here to beat me up.”

“_No_,” Beomgyu denies right off the bat.

Soobin’s eye twitches. “So then _why_?” he asks carefully.

With the biggest groan of the year, Beomgyu removes himself from Soobin, flopping to his side heavily. “Honestly?”

“Honestly.”

Soobin keeps his eyes focused on Beomgyu, who stares at the ceiling blankly. “Yeonjun is a real brother to me. And…” He shakes his head. “I feel like I’m losing my grip on him.”

_Well that's something_. “How long have you guys known each other?”

“Birth,” is the instant response. “Literally, his mom brought him to the hospital when I was born. He’s… He’s everything to me. And now—” He closes his mouth, his Adam’s apple shifting tensely.

Soobin’s jaw falls open as he watches Beomgyu blink back tears.

The blonde clears his throat, collecting himself. “He doesn’t even talk to me. I should know everything and he doesn’t _tell_ me anything anymore because he’s so fucking… _distracted_ all the fucking time.

“Like, he’s quiet about Quidditch, but I always knew that was a sore spot for him because of his dad. But shit about school or like… mental health, or girls, or boys, whatever, he doesn’t say anything.

“He came back to the dorm late last night and was _ crying _ in bed. Crying. Why the fuck was he _crying_?”

Soobin’s heart breaks. “He—”

Beomgyu is now choking on tears. “I _hate_ that you’re stealing him. It feels like ever since you guys actually met, _ nothing _ has been right. He’s already got it so fucking hard and now, what, he just cries alone at night and keeps it all to himself?” Beomgyu covers his face with a hand. “Jesus Christ, Soobin, he’s gonna get fucking _ deported_.”

“What?” Soobin whispers.

“And you just go off and break his heart and he sneaks off at curfew to do God-knows-what and I can’t _do_ anything because he doesn’t trust me at _all_ anymore, like I’m just some fucking wallflower who could never understand—”

Soobin sits up all at once, pulling Beomgyu up into a hug. “Beomgyu, I’m so sorry,” he whispers, clutching onto him.

“And I fucking hate you all the time and it just builds up all ugly inside of me and I’m so fucking ugly inside that even Taehyun would so easily choose Laura Hall if I fucking died today,” he grits, gripping Soobin’s arms. “I chased him for two _years_ to be with me. So like, does he even like me or did I bully him into it? What kind of relationship _is_ that?”

Jesus Christ. So this is why Beomgyu has always been so curt with him. Soobin shakes his head, rubbing his friend’s back comfortingly. “You _ know _ those thoughts are irrational,” he murmurs. “You _ know _ Taehyun likes you a lot, Beomgyu, he talks about you like you’re fucking Adonis or Hercules or something.” He affords a small giggle, at which Beomgyu also barks out a dry laugh. “And I’m so sorry about Yeonjun, Beomgyu. I’m really so sorry.”

“I just don’t get it. I don’t get why it’s you. You shouldn’t have gone to the Dungeon in the very first place.”

“Actually…” Soobin laughs into Beomgyu’s shoulder. “It was Taehyun who tricked me into entering your Common Room.”

“Well that’s just fucking perfect,” Beomgyu mumbles. He pulls back from Soobin, leaning back against the bed frame. His face, flushed from crying, remains looking downward. “I know it's irrational to hate you. It’s fucking stupid and petty and I don’t own Yeonjun. But I have always protected him and from what I’ve seen, I can’t trust you to take over.”

Soobin swallows, that last sentiment hurting him more than anything else Beomgyu has said. He _wants_ to defend himself. He _wants_ to tell Beomgyu that he _can_ protect Yeonjun, that he wants to be _there_ for him.

But he doesn’t know what he’s up against. He remembers Yeonjun crying about his exam, remembers his teary eyes when he told Soobin to stay away for good. Remembers his father grinning in that Quidditch history book.

Somehow, it seems there’s a lot about Yeonjun that Soobin doesn’t know. Which begs the question: does he have the right to say he can defend him? Over someone who’s been watching over Yeonjun his whole life? What the fuck _ can _ he say?

Beomgyu wipes his cheeks with the hem of his shirt, burrowing into the fabric with a deep breath. “Maybe you can figure out a way to prove it to me. But also… maybe it’s time you let go.”

_Let go? Before_… “Did you say something about deportation?” Soobin murmurs.

The Slytherin pauses. “Yeah." The word weighs heavily in the air.

“Is he really gonna—”

“He’s _ not_,” Beomgyu interrupts, staring Soobin dead in the eye. “I was just upset so I said that, but he’s _ fine_. It’s just a snafu with his visa extension. It’s fine. No one is getting deported.”

Soobin nods, but the worry sits in his throat like a rock. Still, for Beomgyu’s sake, he remains cool. “So.”

Beomgyu exhales. “So. Yeah.” Then, after a moment, he looks up. “It was your birthday.”

“My…? _ Oh_.” Soobin laughs, waving a hand off. “Yeah. But it’s fine. I don’t really care about it.”

Beomgyu pulls his lip in again, a habit that Soobin is starting to recognize.

“What?” the Gryffindor asks. “It’s fine, I swear. Taehyun and I are gonna celebrate our birthdays together when we go to Korea for Easter…” He trails off as Beomgyu pulls something out of his cardigan pocket.

“Here.” Beomgyu tosses the square envelope to Soobin, who manages to catch it despite his surprise.

Soobin stares down at the white envelope, which looks like someone smoothed it out after it got thrown in the trash. Written in the center is **soobinie** in blue highlighter and affixed in the upper-righthand corner a yellow balloon sticker. Tension knots in his chest, throbbing uncomfortably.

“It was under my bed,” Beomgyu adds. “I think he must’ve thrown it out without looking. Obviously he doesn’t know I have it.” 

Soobin swallows, pinching the envelope.

“Do you like him?”

Soobin looks up, meeting Beomgyu’s tired eyes.

“I have to know. Even if he doesn’t tell me anything, I have to try and protect him.”

Soobin wonders how it is that the boy before him is a Slytherin when Beomgyu always adapts for the sake of others.

He can’t be lied to. “Yes.” The answer slips from Soobin’s lips of its own accord. The knot in his chest pulsates, and soon he’s sweating again. “I like him, but—”

“But _ nothing_, Soobin.” Beomgyu slowly stands up, bracing himself on the bed. “You say ‘but’ and you keep the cycle going. But but but but _nothing_. You like him?”

Quietly: “I like him.”

“You wanna kiss him or something?”

_Kiss_? Soobin's head swirls. Kissing Yeonjun is a whole concept that he hasn't been able to entertain for more than a second out of pure mental shutdown. In fact, he firmly believes that if Yeonjun kissed him on the mouth with those pouty lips of his, he might just disintegrate on the spot. The thought makes his ears burn. “I—!”

“YES OR NO,” Beomyu yells down.

“FINE, YES, YES,” Soobin replies, covering his face.

“You wanna go on a date with me?”

“YES, I—!” Soobin looks up. “Wait, what?”

As if possessed by a natural disaster, the door flies open, revealing a whistling Yuuto. [KOR: End.] “Hey hey hey,” he sings out in English, entering the dorm with a bronze platter of roasted chicken.

Beomgyu turns, appraising him nonchalantly. “Where did you get that?”

Yuuto looks between Beomgyu and Soobin suspiciously. “You said I wasn’t gonna have to worry about you having friends over anymore.”

But before Soobin can apologize, Beomgyu is engaging: “Steal that from the Great Hall?” he guesses.

"Scram, reptile.”

“I’ll take that as my cue,” the Slytherin breathes, running his fingers through his disarrayed blonde hair. “Yuuto, so good to see you.”

“Fuck off.”

“Pleasure as always.” On his way to the open door, Beomgyu finally looks back. [KOR: Start.] “Soobin?”

Soobin looks up, his brain pounding. “Huh?”

“It’s my birthday gift to you. You’re gonna be my date to Duelement.”

“Duele-_what_?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell at me: [carrd](https://godtyun.carrd.co/).


	20. Duelement

Come Monday, the festivities commence.

“Welcome to Duelement!” Yeonjun roars, his voice resonating across the hall. He paces a raised platform, tapping a closed scroll teasingly as the students below cheer.

Soobin gulps, joining the ruckus.

Beomgyu leans over to whisper in Korean, “He’s the deputy. This is sorta his duty.”

“I thought this was gonna be a party.”

“Would I have told you to come in your _ robes _ if this was a _ party_?”

_ Point taken_. Soobin continues to clap with the other students, once again mesmerized as Yeonjun saunters down what might as well be a runway. His robes flow abundantly, but the main attraction is at his _ feet_. 

Glossy black pointed-toe crocodile skin boots replace the ordinary, dumpy loafers the students are all bound to on a regular basis. He looks like he could crush diamonds. He looks _ powerful_.

“We've had an awesome time training with you guys this term, so we're excited to put our progress to the test.” 

Soobin catches a familiar glimmer in Yeonjun’s eyes and that mischievous smile. His heart almost drops to the floor.

Wait, a test?

“A quick thanks to Terry Kang who came up with _Duelement _ when I asked the club for name suggestions.”

Yeonjun leads the appluase for Taehyun, who raises his hand from the opposite side of the crowd.

Soobin wonders what Beomgyu is thinking.

The blonde Slytherin just claps with a smile. 

From the other side, Soobin can see Kai pushing through a couple students to stand with Taehyun. His hair is a bit curly today, a cowlick even standing tall on top of his head. Soobin can’t help but smile. When the Hufflepuff glances over in his direction, Soobin waves to him brightly. Kai waves in turn, his smile wrinkling his eyes.

“_Duelement _ combines ‘duel’ and ‘_denouement_,’ which is a French word used to signify the ‘unknotting’ of a story. So this is _ our _ ‘unknotting’ for the term. Hannah Firster and I have been working on this for a while, so I hope it’s a satisfying finale.” With a flourish, he unravels the scroll in his hands, shaking his bangs out of his eyes. “I’m a big fan of March Madness, so I suggested a single-elimination style tournament, and Hannah agreed.”

Soobin’s nose scrunches as he whispers to Beomgyu. “I didn’t sign up for this.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Beomgyu reproaches, although Soobin cannot imagine how 64 roaring teenagers gathered for a dueling tournament is not considered at least a medium deal.

Yeonjun overshadows the students’ whoops and hollers by speaking even louder. “We randomized club members and plus-ones across brackets, ourselves included.” He gestures to his runway as well as the empty one paralleled several meters to the side. “We have two dueling platforms which will be running duels at all times. Refreshments—” He points across the room to a long table bursting with drinks and food. “—are over there. You’re welcome to them if you’re not presently dueling.

“Uh, what else.”

“Rules!” Beomgyu shouts.

Yeonjun lights up, turning to look at his friend. “Right!” 

He doesn’t even glance at Soobin who’s right next to Beomgyu.

“Common sense. No blood, maiming, banned curses. The duel stops when a _ certain victory _ has been achieved. Our referees will make that distinction. 

“Also, none of you are first-years, so to some degree you have skill, but this is totally a no-pressure tournament. Have fun. Shake hands after your match.

“Also, we noted the bracket for when sixth-years are facing sixth-years. Now _ these _ are really special matches since they’re the only ones in which nonverbal spells can be applied. And just so it’s clear!” Yeonjun puts one hand on his hip. “They will be very encouraged in these cases. We didn’t restart this club for nothing.

“If you’re not dueling, you’re free to roam and spectate as you please. You can chat, but use your indoor voices, okay?” He takes a deep breath and refers to his scroll again. “Now, without further ado, please give a warm welcome to the faculty members who have graciously offered to referee our event: Professors Alanis Warrington and Bulah Nott!”

Yeonjun leads the applause as two equally-vibrant women take the stage. He dismounts into the crowd, and Soobin tries not to watch, but he recognizes Ksenia in the front of the crowd smiling up at Yeonjun as he hops down to her. 

Soobin can’t see his expression, but their body language is familiar enough for him to be looking away in a wince.

“Can you believe that Yeonjun got two Heads of House to referee?” Beomgyu whispers as the professors crack dueling jokes to the crowd warmly.

Since it’s Yeonjun, Soobin can kind of believe it, but it’s an impressive feat anyway, especially with two such highly-regarded professors. The other Heads of House, while intimidating and elegant in their own rights, aren’t nearly as legendary as Warrington and Nott.

Alanis Warrington is a middle-aged, petite woman with platinum buzzed hair. If her golden robe doesn’t give away her affinity for Hufflepuffs, then her saccharine persona does. Her eyes seem permanently etched in wide-eyed wonder, and she makes excessive eye contact with the crowd as her squeaky voice packs a surprising volume. 

Soobin remembers taking Ancient Runes with her. He had stress daydreams about her eyes looking at him from every column of the Entrance Courtyard.

When it comes to Bulah Nott, Soobin knows well. She is a 30-something who, despite having endless height, teaches Flying with the litheness of a gymnast. She is Gryffindor through and through, her broad shoulders never caving in. It’s a quality Soobin has yet to acquire.

Nott is textbook Gryffindor and Soobin may have to duel in front of her. 

He tunes back in to hear Nott imparting her final words. “...All that said, Professor Warrington and I are looking forward to witnessing the fruits of your education here at Hogwarts so far.” She shoots a sly smile at Warrington. “Shall we?”

Warrington wasn’t holding a wand as far as Soobin could tell, but now it slinks out of her sleeve into her open hand. In one swift move, she shoots a spell up at the ceiling, carrying the gazes (and breaths) of the students with it.

The ceiling shimmers and seems to heighten, revealing a floating chart that covers the whole sky. Sweeping brackets painted in electric currents sizzle into place. _So many lines_, Soobin notes, his eyes glazing over all of the names scrawled on the sides. The names pulsate in the colors of the Houses, saturated and proud. Students start murmuring amongst themselves as they find their names. Soobin can hardly breathe.

“See those golden ones?” Warrington calls out. Sure enough, there are three different matchups, one on the left and two on the right, where the names shine in gold. “Those are the sixth-year duels. But we’ll start at the top on both sides and go from there!”

The top match on both sides burst downward with importance. Warrington carries on, reading aloud the presented names: “On the Moon Platform, Yuuto Asahi and Frederick Feierabend!” 

_ Yuuto_! Soobin’s eyes dart back down to the room, looking for his roommate. He spots him not a few meters to his right. Next to Yuuto is none other than Laura Hall, who excitedly whispers to him. Soobin thinks that Yuuto’s chest has never looked more puffed than it does at this moment.

“Oh, _ shit_,” Beomgyu murmurs, his gaze focused upward.

Soobin looks up curiously.

“And on the Sun Platform, Kai Huening and Jonas Mogen! Everyone up!”

Soobin’s head goes blank. Kai, a skinny 14-year-old, is paired with _ Jonas_, a hulking monster of a Norwegian who probably churns the tears of his victims into breakfast jam. Soobin shoots a panicked look at Beomgyu, shaking his head. “No way. That can’t happen.”

“Randomization is a bitch,” the Slytherin murmurs as the chosen students meander to get up onto the parallel platforms.

Warrington goes to the Moon Platform, standing just a few steps away in a designated box. Nott mirrors her on the Sun Platform, and the remaining students spread out, clumping in friend groups and whispering about the upcoming duels.

“_Hey_.” Soobin startles at the Korean greeting, turning to see Taehyun coming up to him. With his handsome features and Ravenclaw robes, he looks every part of the Hollywood Nerd. Too bad he’s actually a troublemaker. “Kai and Jonas, huh,” he notes as if he had nothing to do with it.

Soobin hits his friend's shoulder lightly, frowning hard. “I don’t know why you invited him. What if Jonas makes him cry or something?”

Taehyun rolls his eyes, his shoulders relaxed as he looks on at a nervous-looking Kai. “I don’t think you’re giving him enough credit.”

Soobin opens his mouth and turns to get Beomgyu’s opinion, but the Slytherin is nowhere to be found. Soobin almost gets whiplash from it, wondering how he slipped away so easily.

“Don’t,” Taehyun utters, regaining Soobin’s attention. Now the Gryffindor can clearly see the dark circles under his friend’s eyes where there are ordinarily none. Taehyun veils his hopelessness under indifference; Soobin's been friends with him long enough to know. “He doesn’t want to see me.”

_Beomgyu and Taehyun really ought to get back together_.

Yeonjun chimes in loudly now from the main floor: “From now on, duels are constantly running. We’ll stop for golden matches, but otherwise, let’s have fun!” The students applaud. “Give a hand to your brave first competitors!” Cheering and playful jeering follow, encouraging the students on stage. Jonas in particular rides the energy of the crowd, lazily sauntering as he grins confidently, whooping along. Kai approaches him in the middle, holding his wand at the ready. Soobin can see his hand trembling in the light.

“At the ready!” Yeonjun continues, summoning the students to their initial positions. Yuuto and Frederick stand steadfast at the ready. Looking between the platforms, Soobin thinks that the vibes couldn’t be more different. He and Taehyun stride to the Sun Platform, sidling up the edge to watch Kai’s match closely. Soobin stands a little behind Taehyun, fearing his proneness to surprise.

The final words: “On your time.”

Soobin holds his breath, glancing between the platforms. He is mesmerized at the exact timing of the two: how all four boys swipe their wands up and down in unison. How they turn and step in time. Even the air has weight.

Soobin watches Kai— can see him counting without a sound. 

_Hana. Dul. Set_.

Soobin has seen his share of duels in classes, but not this close. Somehow, not like this.

He vaguely hears Yuuto calling out a spell, but his attention is magnetized to Kai, who impressively whips around at the same time as Jonas.

But Jonas is already mid-spell when he turns. “_Flipendo_!”

Kai winces at the impact and can hardly call out the first syllable of a charm before flying back, his back slamming on the platform harshly. Soobin winces, remembering how he was thrown back similarly by Yeonjun just two days ago.

Kai whimpers, curling over as Jonas struts forward, taking his time. “What’s wrong, dear? Mum didn’t tuck you into bed last night?” He sighs. “Or did you not have your precious plushies?”

Soobin tenses up at the chirping, but it’s not his fight— not with Kai sitting up, his eyes set in determination like he’s ready for hell. “_Colloshoo_!” the Hufflepuff shouts, swishing and pointing his wand precisely at Jonas’s feet.

As the hex travels, Jonas side-steps, casting what Soobin recognizes as a hex-deflection. If there were time, Soobin would reflect that such deflections are a fourth-year skill and if a hex were cast on Kai, he would have no defense except for simple spell-blocking.

But it seems that Kai is smarter than that anyway. Right after casting the sticky-foot hex, he stumbles to his feet, rushing forward with renewed energy while stacking a second attack. “_Locomotor Wibbly_!”

This time, a yellow streak finds its path, although Jonas is able to side-step just enough that it only gets his right leg. He yelps as the leg collapses, the bone turning to jelly and consequently sinking underneath him. He goes down haphazardly, his wand-holding hand reflexively whipping out to catch his fall.

Soobin forgets to breathe.

Kai comes to a surefooted standstill, looking more confident. “_Flipendo_!” he casts with finality as Jonas scrambles to sit up.

Like a wobbly rainbow, Jonas and his jelly leg fly so far back that when he lands, he ends up rolling off the far end of the platform.

And that’s it.

“Champion,” Nott calls out, amusement evident in her voice. “Kai Huening.”

Soobin hardly has the sense to look up as she flicks her wand to the sky. KAI HUENING is the first name listed on the second round brackets. Scattered applause resonates for the victor. Soobin stands there with an open mouth. _Whoa_.

“Mr. Choi,” Professor Nott calls out. Soobin's eyes snap up upon hearing his name, but Nott is looking elsewhere. “Will you assist Mr. Mogen?”

“Jonas, stay still!” The Gryffindor turns in time to see Choi Yeonjun jogging around the platform, kneeling down to where he can’t see. When he stands back up, he’s supporting the limp-legged Norwegian, whose head hangs in defeat.

“Shake hands,” Nott reminds them.

Kai’s behavior transforms from that of a powerful wizard back into a 14-year-old teen, jogging across the platform to shake hands with Jonas, who reluctantly accepts his offer under the encouragement of Yeonjun.

When Kai turns back, he looks directly at Soobin, smiling his gummiest grin. “Soobin-hyung!”

“Off the stage, champ,” Nott jests. “Next match!”

And as she announces the next match listed on the pseudo-sky, Kai jumps down, accepting high-fives and congratulations from other students while padding back to Soobin and Taehyun.

Soobin can feel his heart bursting with pride as he sweeps Kai into a tight hug. “What was _ that_?” he asks incredulously, laughing and swinging Kai around. “That was so _ cool_, how did you get the timing so—?”

Kai laughs, holding on tight. “I don’t know. I just tried to see through him.”

“What, _ how_? That’s…” It’s _ wild _ is what it is. Soobin knows firsthand how intimidating Jonas is. He squeezes Kai a little tighter, unable to figure out how he managed to meet such an amazing person.

From the side he can hear Taehyun chortle. “Well, it’s not gonna be as crazy as when you beat Ksenia.”

Soobin releases Kai, still smiling and rubbing the Hufflepuff's back. “When who beats Ksenia?”

Taehyun raises a brow. “When you do.” He points up.

Soobin follows the gesture, his grip faltering on Kai as his eyes float up the chart. Four matches down on the Sun side, he sees it: _ SOOBIN CHOI _ in red below _ KSENIA BURE _in green. His throat goes dry, the nerves of performing for Professor Nott suddenly amplified by 10,000. Against Yeonjun's probable girlfriend.

And it’ll be soon.

“Taehyun,” a familiar voice calls out with that American flair. The hair on Soobin’s neck stands on end. He dares to look up as Yeonjun stands meters away, gesturing to the Ravenclaw. “Hannah wants to have a check-in.”

Soobin can feel an envelope burning a hole in his pocket, but his throat seems to close. Yeonjun does not even look at the scene of Kai and Soobin’s celebration. He smiles good-naturedly, though. The ideal boy as always. It leaves something empty in Soobin’s chest.

Taehyun glances between Soobin and Yeonjun. “I’m up soon.”

“We’ll finish before you’re up. It’s just about our gifts for the professors.”

“Oh, okay.” Taehyun slaps Kai on the back, offering a small “nice job” before gliding away with Yeonjun.

_Patience, Soobin_.

Soobin lets go of Kai's back in favor of petting his hair, his eyes glued to the sky. “Wow, Moon is already on its third match.” He smiles at seeing Yuuto’s name listed in the second round but bites the inside of his cheek nervously. “God, I don’t know anything about Ksenia.”

“I do,” he hears Kai murmur.

Soobin’s eyebrows fly up as he meets his friend’s eyes again. “You do? How?”

Kai shrugs. “She used to tutor me in Charms. I never dueled her or anything, but she always said she liked using time as a weapon.” His hand goes to Soobin’s belly, tapping unconsciously. “Like, some people are better under pressure, but she’s better when things slow down.”

“So I should get it done fast.”

“Yeah. End it quick.” Kai’s eyes flicker like he’s scanning a rolodex of spells. “Maybe something like a _ Glacius _ charm.”

Soobin blinks. “I don’t think I remember that one. I would’ve learned it like two years ago.”

Kai shakes his head. “But I can teach you,” he urges, pulling his hyung away from the platforms. “Come on!”

The Gryffindor watches in passing as the current Sun match finishes in record time, sending up the third match already. And when that one finishes… “Can you really teach me in time?”

* * *

“I can’t do this,” Beomgyu grumbles. 

“Just go up and like, make up!” Hannah shoots back, scribbling something on a legal pad. She leans leisurely against the back wall, shoving sweets into her mouth between sentences. Beomgyu can hardly get a word in since she seems so busy, but he doesn’t see another time or way to ask for advice.

Breaking up with his very new boyfriend was not on the agenda when he headed out to Hogsmeade on Saturday, and now he knows for sure that it was a bad idea. He needs to stop making impulsive decisions, but that’s exactly what he avoided in having Taehyun as a _ friend_. “But if I forced him—”

“Then _ ask _ him, my _ god_,” she groans through a mouthful of macaron, looking between the platforms, the scores in the sky, and her pad. “You really think he’s trying to get with _ Laura Hall_?”

“That’s not the point at all,” he grumbles.

Hannah halts her writing, turning to look at the Slytherin. Her hijab, navy and brimming with ethereal sparkles, swishes just so as she fixates on Beomgyu. “Okay, I’m sorry. I’m stressed. Of course he was being an arse.” She takes a deep breath, searching his eyes. “What did Daniel say about it all?”

Beomgyu glances over at the platforms, catching the tail end of the present Sun duel. “Same as you. ‘Talk to him.’”

“Well, do you really think he would apologize first?”

The Slytherin snorts. “Is that too much to ask? Is it really so hard for him to see when he does things wrong too?”

“So tell him!”

“Why should I have to?” he snaps.

Hannah scoffs. “Because you want to be in a _relationship_ with him?”

“But I’ll sound so—!” The truth hits Beomgyu mid-sentence. “Clingy. I’ll sound fucking clingy.”

And this silence is even more painful as Beomgyu can’t even bear to look up. When he finally does, he sees Hannah staring with her signature deadpan look— the look telling him to _ wake up_.

He glares back with less intensity. “Don’t act like you’re better than me,” he barks without much bite.

Hannah looks back down at her papers, shrugging half-heartedly.

Beomgyu looks up at the sound of cheering, watching Kai jump offstage into Soobin’s arms.

“They’re coming to meet me, so you should probably go,” Hannah mentions offhand.

“Fuck,” Beomgyu hisses, watching as sure enough, his Slytherin friend calls Taehyun out. “Okay, I’ll see you later.”

“Best of British,” she lilts, offering him a fist bump.

He sighs, returning the gesture before slinking off with a biscuit in hand and a brain full of Kang Taehyun. How should he replace thoughts of his lovely yet frustrating Ravenclaw with useful spells?

* * *

Within seconds of the match start, Soobin sends Ksenia into a glacial freeze. His hands are shaking, but his smile is cheek to cheek when he meets Kai again for a high-five so intense that the Hufflepuff’s shoulder audibly clicks.

* * *

After sorting out the club’s gifts for Warrington and Nott, Taehyun mounts the Moon Platform to face a petite second-year Hufflepuff named Sian Snowbell. She almost sends him on his ass, but he hits her with an advanced charm from a history book. Hufflepuffs were never very good at studying anyway, in his opinion.

* * *

The first golden match of the evening lands on Hannah Firster and a sixth-year Gryffindor, Virginia Bay. It ends in a split second when Hannah wordlessly sends a ridiculous electric shock of a spell Virginia’s way, the girl’s only charm-blocking attempt practically dissipating under the sheer force of Hannah’s will.

* * *

Beomgyu feels a lot at stake in his match against sixth-year Slytherin Bo Rose. That’s his Quidditch teammate. As a Korean, the last thing he should do is humiliate his senior in front of everyone.

And yet, Bo is European through and through. So it doesn’t really matter, right?

Instead of shame, Beomgyu feels pride running through him when he sees his name advance to the second round with the help of a crowd-favorite tickling hex.

* * *

Sixth-year Slytherins Daniel Choi and Zachary Shaw exchange butt slaps before beginning the second golden match of the evening. 

Soobin observes them, wondering not for the first time if he's looking at Daniel or Yeonjun.

It must be Daniel. Daniel's American loudness is unmistakable. The easy way he relates to people. His endless charisma. But Yeonjun is sweet. He looks at Soobin with stars in his eyes. He makes Soobin itch to fight dragons.

But isn't Yeonjun just "Yeonjun" for Soobin's sake? _Everyone calls him Daniel except for you. He's only "Yeonjun" because you were so desperate to have something in common with him_.

And the worst part is that whether that boy onstage is Daniel Choi or Choi Yeonjun, he is liminal. A passing comet in Soobin’s life. So this denouement— this _duelement—_ Soobin wonders if this is really the end of the story.

_ Did I write the ending too soon_?

In his mind's eye, he can still see Yeonjun's flushed, tear-stained face showered in falling snow. An angel veiled in white.

Maybe Soobin was never very good at letting go.

One. Two. Three.

Yeonjun and Zachary pace to opposite sides, their expressions melting into neutrality. 

Soobin recalls a recent lesson with an introduction to nonverbal spell-casting. One has to clear their mind to get their intention through to the wand. So as expected, just like Hannah and Virginia, Yeonjun and Zachary wear slightly serious faces, their brows drawn together with the mental effort of erasing extraneous thoughts. 

Soobin has no doubt that he’s gonna have hell to look forward to in his classes next year.

The room is dead-silent. Where before Nott watched the duels with a lax posture, she now sits up straight, her mouth closed and eyes focused. 

The boys pivot at once and Soobin’s eyes go wide at Zachary’s blast of green. Yeonjun swings his wand, an aura of shadow neutralizing the attack. Soobin wishes he knew what spells they were using. The only sound comes from the force of their charms, hexes, and blocks interacting as well as their shoes as they shift back and forth like fencers. 

It is fast and powerful. Soobin never heard Yeonjun say anything about it, but he’s sure that the Slytherin must be studying to be an Auror.

After blocking two more attacks, Yeonjun takes Zachary’s final blow and spins around, isolating the power to redirect it back. Zachary jumps back, flailing with his wand to block, so Yeonjun finishes him off with the knockback jinx that Soobin does recognize.

All in all, the match lasts one minute. Soobin exhales, his shoulders relaxing.

Yeonjun's boots pass him by, deep black and scary as hell. 

But Soobin isn't that scared anymore.

* * *

The first round finishes up, featuring Laura Hall absolutely demolishing a Hufflepuff Prefect in the last golden match.

The second round commences. While the losers mill about, eating food and chatting, the qualifiers compete. Kai, Soobin, Yeonjun, Taehyun, and Beomgyu all secure victories.

This would be great if Kai and Soobin didn’t have to duel each other in the first Sun match of the third round.

* * *

“Kai,” Soobin breathes as they face each other on the platform. The energy feels unfamiliarly tense. Strange. They shouldn’t be fighting. “You ready?”

The Hufflepuff nods, exhaling through his mouth. “Sorry in advance.”

Soobin scoffs good-naturedly. “Me too.”

Kai blows Soobin out of the water in 15 seconds. When Soobin turns over onto his back, groaning with sweat coating his forehead, he wonders how he ever thought Kai wouldn’t survive in a duel. He didn’t even recognize half the spells Kai used.

But there he is, standing above Soobin with wide eyes. “Are you okay?” And even though he’s looking directly down at Soobin after creaming him, he could never be patronizing.

So the Gryffindor just laughs. “You’re good!” he beams, sitting up. They clasp hands and Kai helps him to his feet, hugging him with a smile.

"Champion, Kai Huening," Nott affirms.

* * *

Three matches later on the Sun side, Yeonjun beats his man. Soobin swallows at the developing bracket on the ceiling. If Kai and Yeonjun both win against their opponents in the quarterfinals, they’ll face each other in the semis.

Soobin can’t decide who would win.

* * *

On the Moon side, Taehyun secures a spot in the quarterfinals, but Beomgyu gets ousted by Hannah Firster. _ Poetic_, he thinks, lying on his back on the platform. At least he can think about his lovely Ravenclaw again.

* * *

When Laura Hall defeats a fourth-year Ravenclaw, the third round officially ends, deciding the quarterfinalists. 

The first break of the evening is in order.

While the remaining contestants eat to replenish their strength, loser Soobin wanders up to stand on the Moon platform, getting a clear, wide-angle view of the ceiling. The brackets are closing in on the center.

sun

KAI HUENING v. XX XX

XX XX v. DANIEL CHOI

moon

XX XX v. TERRY KANG

HANNAH FIRSTER v. LAURA HALL

_ Kai and Yeonjun will probably win their rounds_, Soobin decides, even though he doesn’t know Kai’s opponent. _ Taehyun’s doing well… At this point he could pull through, but I don’t see him beating Hannah or Laura if he makes it to semis. And between Laura and Hannah— _

“Hey.” 

Soobin glances down at fox eyes.

_Shit_.

Yeonjun stands on the floor below, holding a bucket and not quite meeting his eyes. “I wanted to clean up. Can you move?”

Soobin’s voice box renders useless but he has enough sense to oblige, jumping down next to the Slytherin.

Yeonjun steps away, swishing his wand without acknowledging Soobin. The dust and grime on the platform carpet rise, and when he swishes again, the floating layer comes cascading into Yeonjun’s bucket neatly until the platform is pristine once more. “Good,” Yeonjun murmurs, treading away.

Beomgyu’s advice comes crashing down on Soobin. He reaches out in an instant. “Wait,” he blurts, touching Yeonjun’s arm.

The Slytherin turns around, giving him such a withering look that Soobin could perish from just witnessing it. “I— This belongs to you.” 

Yeonjun makes no move to dismiss him. _Oh_. Soobin's heart pounds as he reaches into his pocket with shaky hands. He pulls out the white envelope marked “soobinie,” the seal on the back unbroken. “I think you lost this.”

And he’s not sure what he’s expecting.

Yeonjun’s eyes fall on the paper.

> _“Yuuto, would you open an envelope that’s addressed to you if the sender ended up trashing it?”_
> 
> _“How did you get the envelope?_ _”_
> 
> _“Uh...”_
> 
> _“...Did you steal it."_
> 
> _"No, I— his friend found it and gave it to me."_
> 
> _"Really? And you're wondering what you should do?"_

"It's yours," Soobin states, even as he agonizes over the contents.

“I don’t want it.”

“You don’t—?”

Yeonjun holds out the bucket. The trash bucket. 

_No_. Soobin presses his fingers into the envelope creases protectively, his mouth slightly open as panic creeps up his neck.

But it seems that he hesitates just long enough, because Yeonjun brushes past him without pressing further.

The Gryffindor stands there, his eyes going dry as he forgets to blink. _I'm gonna have to try harder than that_.

* * *

Kai succeeds in his fourth match of the afternoon.

Taehyun loses to a fellow fourth-year. A Gryffindor. That stings.

Yeonjun is gentle in his match against a second-year student, but he still delivers the punishing blow after 30 seconds.

In the unanticipated golden match of sixth-years Hannah Firster and Laura Hall, the room falls silent once more. They are so evenly matched in style that the duel goes on for a full two-and-a-half minutes until Hannah forfeits, falling to one knee and panting. Laura is almost as badly fatigued, taking a wide stance to stay on her feet as her eyes go in and out of focus.

In the end, Beomgyu nurses Hannah next to the food table, taking over clipboard duties as the quarterfinals come to a close.

* * *

“Amazing, right?” 

Soobin glances down to see Professor Nott next to him, looking up at the ceiling. He slouches, not wanting to take up too much space next to the famous professor. “Oh. Yeah, I’m really… um…”

Nott smiles. “I’d normally be eating like a monster, but it’s hard to eat when I’m anxious.”

“You’re anxious?”

“Of course. I don’t want students to get hurt. I have to make sure everything is fair. It’s a lot.”

Soobin shakes his head. “I can’t imagine doing all that. I have a hard enough time flying.” And he didn’t mean to bring up the subject that Nott literally teaches him, but it comes out of his mouth before he can stop it.

“Really? You seem to be doing fine to me,” Nott offers, examining her student.

He cringes away under the inspection. “It’s just… there are a few things I’m struggling with. Getting up high… my calluses… momentum…”

“Well... do you want an outside lesson?” Nott asks. Her drooped eyes offer a generosity that Soobin hasn’t felt in a while.

“Like, on a weekend?”

“Sure," she shrugs, like it's the easiest thing in the world. "Class ends Wednesday. I’m busy on Thursday, but I’ll be around on Friday if you want a second opinion.”

_Whoa. That’s a lot_. Soobin’s mind burns with the expectation of performing for Nott, but his heart races with the promise of getting better under the tutelage of someone he respects so much. “Yes, I'd love to. I should be free anytime.”

Nott nods definitively, stretching her back idly. “How about noon, then? Is the Lawn comfortable for you?”

The Lawn is where Flying class happens. Soobin normally feels more at ease at the Quidditch pitch, but he knows he needs to conquer his anxiety in his classroom. “Yeah. Um. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Nott offers, giving him a knowing look. She’s eye-level with him, but her shoulders rest back broadly. 

Unconsciously, Soobin’s shoulders expand.

* * *

Like Soobin, Kai entered Duelement expecting a party. He didn’t foresee this.

Professor Nott takes the stage, looking out at the students. “To decide the Sun finalist. Kai Huening and Daniel Choi.”

He could not foresee this.

A million things run through his mind as Soobin wishes him good luck. A plan is spinning in Kai's mind, taking form so dramatically that he almost tells it to go away.

But when he looks at smiley Soobin, he remembers his personal vow. When he looks at Yeonjun boarding the platform, he remembers his desire to be brave. 

He climbs onto the platform, watching the Slytherin before him take his place in the center calmly.

This could be a bad idea, but he wants to find out.

Instead of going to the center, Kai veers toward the referee box. “Professor,” he starts. “I’d like to do a nonverbal duel.”

Nott blinks, staring at him like he’s grown four eyes. “You’re a third-year, aren’t you?”

Kai nods.

She shakes her head incredulously. “Well, to be honest I can't see myself allowing it. You haven’t been taught.”

“I’ve been taught,” Kai replies. "My father taught me and I've been working on it with Professor Warrington."

Kai looks up to see Yeonjun approaching the box, speaking quietly. “What’s going on?”

Nott shakes her head. “Mr. Huening wants a nonverbal duel.”

_This is not going well_. “But this is all educational, right? We’re not maiming. We won’t hurt each other. I just… I want to try.” Kai gives Nott his best look of sincerity, throwing her the puppy dog eyes that Soobin always points out.

Nott purses her lips. “Professor Warrington!” she calls out.

“Yes?” Professor Warrington chimes in, appearing behind the box right away. 

Nott jumps in surprise, then speaks quietly to Warrington. Too quiet for Kai or Yeonjun to hear. The two boys stand back, not even glancing at each other as they wait patiently for a verdict.

Just 30 seconds later, Nott and Warrington are nodding in consensus.

Nott swivels her head to give Kai a tentative look. “You understand that if Professor Warrington or I see any funny business, we will stop this duel using any means necessary.”

Kai swallows and nods resolutely.

Nott looks to Yeonjun. “It's up to you.”

Yeonjun finally meets Kai’s eyes. His eyes are cast in heaviness, but their glimmer is untouched.

_ 100%_, they seem to decree.

“It’s fine with me,” Yeonjun concurs, rolling his sleeves up. “But I won’t go easy on you.”

Kai nods. "I hope so," he replies in Korean.

Yeonjun doesn't flinch this time.

* * *

When Warrington, Nott, Yeonjun, and Kai break away from their huddle onstage, the onlookers quiet.

Soobin waits for any kind of clue as to the nature of the hushed conversation.

Kai and Yeonjun take their places. The Slytherin cuffs his sleeves, his eyes cast in a seriousness that Soobin doesn't recognize.

The duelists stand upright at center, each holding up his wand firmly.

It is Nott who breaks the silence: “It's a bit unprecedented, but Professor Warrington and I have discussed this well.” She speaks evenly now, showing no doubt. “Mr. Huening has requested a nonverbal duel.”

Nonverbal. A third-year and a sixth-year. 

"It shall be so."

The surrounding students are rendered to stunned silence.

Soobin stares wide-eyed at Kai. Gentle Kai. Cute Kai. Thoughtful Kai.

_What the fuck are you doing?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell at me: [carrd](https://godtyun.carrd.co/).  
to pay your respects to taegyu's relationship, check out my [taegyu barista drabble](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21165812).
> 
> weekly updates from now on. we're getting this done.


	21. K. HUENING, D. CHOI (You and I)

Even as tension runs through Kai’s nerves from facing Choi Yeonjun out in the open, something in him also breathes a sigh of relief.

Kai feels good. Really good. His body is teeming with confidence that is completely unlike anything he’s ever felt. It feels different from all those times he played mischievously. This feels real. He kind of wonders if this is what it’s like to be grown.

Yeonjun is certainly very real. “Your dad, huh?” he queries, twisting his wand between his fingers as it remains upright.

It feels good to smile, so Kai smiles. “Yeah. Me and my sisters all learned.” Even as some of the memories hurt too, he takes it all with ease, letting them wash through his mind in waves.

Yeonjun nods, his eyebrows wrinkling as his eyes flutter shut.

“At the ready,” Nott calls.

As Kai lets out the last of his short breaths, painful memories surface, wading through his mind. The memories say _ hello_, threatening to lap up his attention as flashbulb images blur into existence. Echoed lies. Tense words that fight on the other side of a door. _ No, thank you_, he lulls with practiced ease. They dissipate, flowing into oblivion. He feels himself immersed in the sea, leaving behind the ripples of distraction.

Kai’s eyes open without conscious thought. He must have closed them at some point.

The lights burn from above. The stares expect from below. 

He and Yeonjun look at each other and for the first time he feels a thread connecting them at the base of their throats. A slight tugging sensation. That too melts away with a simple _ no, thank you_.

_ Hana_.

_ Dul_.

_ Set_.

As he moves across the platform, his body takes structure again. _ I am on a stage_. The little mouse inside of him cowers under the light, but that too washes away in his pursuit of the vast ocean.

And in that ocean, a buoy:

_ I’ll bring you into the light too. _

A simple intention nesting in the crevices of his spine, flowering at his neck.

He turns around.

* * *

_I_ _ can’t watch. _

_ I can’t watch_.

Soobin goes to shut his eyes, but they won’t let him, so with a sharp inhale, he witnesses the duelists swivel at once.

Stillness.

He grips Taehyun, whose breath also catches at the duelists doing… nothing?

_ Nothing_.

Well, they’re positioned _ en garde_, at least. Yeonjun’s free hand floats by his ear while Kai’s stays near his hip. They should look ridiculous just standing still like that, but Soobin can’t bring himself to laugh.

In fact, he feels something akin to panic rattle in his chest, wishing that they would do something. Anything.

Oh boy. Soobin’s gonna die. He’s gonna have a heart attack right here right now and die at the age of 16 without having ever kissed Choi Yeonjun.

It’s a full five seconds before anything happens.

And then it’s Kai.

* * *

After the initial shock of their mutual stillness passes, Kai wakes up. It’s obvious that Yeonjun is drawing him out to attack first— a fair request since it’s Kai’s challenge in the first place.

_Feel him out_. 

He casts a disarming charm in one quick swish, his front foot shifting.

Yeonjun defends, but instead of dissolving the energy, he turns the spell, jolting it back towards Kai who in an instant redirects it into a corner of the ceiling. The sound is harsh and metallic, causing some gasps in the crowd. The ancient rock groans as a little puff of smoke blooms from the point of impact.

Kai’s father used to redirect charms too. That kind of aggressive defense tells him that he could, maybe should do this more carefully, but the adrenaline pumps through him all at once and he is raring to go, unable to stop himself as he tries his luck again.

Lunging, he attacks, a magenta streak blasting forward from his skinny dogwood wand. 

Yeonjun’s face tightens up as he retreats under the force of the spell, neutralizing it promptly. He follows with his own first attack, but instead of aiming for Kai, he points at the ground in front of him and flicks his wrist coolly.

Kai sucks in a breath and jumps back as before him, a harmless explosion produces an opaque smokescreen. _ So it’s like that_. He braces himself, unblinking as blast after blast hurtles toward him through the smoke, his opponent unseen.

Still, he makes quick work of the attacks, facing them head-on with redirections. Whether they hit Yeonjun or not isn’t the point. The _ point _ is to create time.

And sure enough, after four more attacks, Yeonjun pauses long enough for Kai to take his chance, flinging both hands up only to make a gesture of pushing down on the ground. (It’s not necessary to use both hands, but it feels good.)

The smokescreen obeys and collapses into the carpet, revealing Yeonjun who is already mid-gesture.

_ Shit_.

Since he’s already bent, Kai has no choice but to make a cursory defense, casting a shield charm and rolling backward awkwardly. 

Tumbling isn’t his strong suit, so unfortunately, one of Kai’s scrambling feet sticks out just far enough for Yeonjun’s charm to hit. From his sole shooting up into every nerve of his body, he feels intense electricity take its effect.

He shouts from the intense pain, still shoving at the ground to _ get away, get away, get up_! But the burning electric waves pulse into his throat, clouding his brain. He can’t think.

“Kai!” 

The echo of Soobin’s anxious shout rings in his ears just before a blast of wind hits him full-force, propelling him backwards.

_ Go, Kai_! His father’s face comes to mind. _ Get her. Your sister isn’t waiting for you to get up. _

Yeonjun is not waiting for Kai to get up. 

_ This _ is the 100% he asked for.

So against all odds, Kai’s hands and feet find steadiness on the ground in a pseudo Downward Dog. From that position, he musters just enough strength to lean in and shoot a spell into the eye of the wind tunnel, aiming for Yeonjun’s wand.

The Slytherin’s eyes go wide as he attempts to cut off the wind, but even breezed off-target, Kai’s spell still makes contact.

A grunt is punched out of Yeonjun as he goes flying back, hitting the ground with a painful thud.

Kai wishes he could have stacked another attack while the Slytherin was mid-air, but he uses the opportunity to stumble to his feet instead, resisting the urge to vomit as he fights severe motion sickness. 

He knows that Yeonjun will use the fall to roll over, so instead of uselessly attacking, he steps back, planting his feet in a wide stance. 

There is _ one _ good way to even this out.

While Yeonjun predictably jumps to his feet, Kai’s eyes flash to the sky, glazing over KAI HUENING and DANIEL CHOI. Before the match began, their names were in yellow and green. Now that the boys fight in silence, the letters gleam in dark gold.

_ Let’s go darker_. 

Kai grits his teeth and aims for the chandelier. 

When the shot connects, that brilliant fire goes out, plunging the room into total darkness.

_ Ha._

It’s no problem for a mouse, but if Yeonjun wants to see, he’ll have to cast a spell one way or another.

He hears students reacting, but he remains still, waiting for Yeonjun’s move. 

It doesn’t come.

_ That’s more like it_.

Kai tempers his breathing so it’s inaudible, taking silent steps as he listens. 

Yeonjun’s breath goes quiet as he adapts too, but those boots don’t leave much to the imagination.

Kai can hear every step. 

He _ should _ be confident. 

But if he’s being honest, he doesn’t know what to do. He has a goal, but it seems like no matter what he tries, Yeonjun’s reflexes are too fast and his instincts too developed. Kai is good, but he’s just 14. Beating Yeonjun would take nothing short of a miracle.

Still, forcing his hand is possible. Even if Kai can’t win, he can do some damage.

From the side, a gentle glow flickers from Professor Nott’s wand. 

_ Oh_.

The light is just enough to suggest the outline of Yeonjun’s side.

_ He’s close. _

Kai blasts his attack, lunging closer to the center line as he aims for Yeonjun’s shoulder. 

He can see the Slytherin barely swishing his wand to defend, so he goes even further, aiming another spell for his knees. He’d like to take out Yeonjun’s legs, but the sixth-year is somehow quicker, even blind.

It’s _ frustrating_. Kai can feel his failure annoying him, threatening to make him shout with desperation. So he tries just once more, his swish for the disarming charm executed possibly the best he’s ever done it.

But the _ slightest _ whine of exasperation escapes him at the effort, exposing his position in the dark. 

Yeonjun snaps into action.

Maybe it's Kai’s own fault when his own charm comes hurtling back at him with perfect aim, _ far _ too fast to react to since he thought that _ he _ had the advantage.

His wand surges out of his hand.

Now he’s at the center line just a meter away from Yeonjun.

No wand.

The little mouse inside of Kai says _ run_, and he has never understood the term “go for broke,” but he gets it now as he pivots, sprinting away, sans defense.

A blast rings in his ears followed by an all-consuming brightness blinding him as the chandelier’s light is restored. And ah, he was right. Yeonjun couldn’t stand being in the dark after all.

Now illuminated is Kai’s wand (luckily still on the platform), so he bends, grabbing the handle with almost inhuman desperation. He lets out the grunt of the century, whirling around to cast the quickest shield charm he’s ever conjured to protect himself from the attack he can hear spiraling towards him.

He _ barely _ makes it and in a burst of energy thrusts forward with a hasty attack, aiming for Yeonjun’s head— just wishing that _ anything _ would hit him. But instead of holding out for his wish to be granted, he stacks his attack, using Yeonjun's surprised expression to take a possible advantage. He points at Yeonjun’s feet, casting the stickfast hex that eluded Jonas in the first round.

_ Bingo_. 

The spell makes its mark, melding Yeonjun’s crocodile boots to the ground. The Slytherin, who was mid-retreat, now falls onto his butt, but he’s quick enough to sleekly blast a smoky, lavender spell at Kai.

Still half on the ground, the Hufflepuff pants, staring down the streak of pastel light as his mind goes hazy.

_ This ends now_. 

Instead of shielding himself from Yeonjun’s attack, Kai casts a sapphire blue streak of magic that meets Yeonjun’s lavender spell halfway.

The boys both let out uncomfortable groans, Kai scrunching his face up as he feels the energy from both of their attacks rattling through the air and throbbing in their wands. His wand hand shakes with the effort and acute numbness starts to make itself apparent.

Okay. Kai gets it. He now gets why the sixth-year matches looked so grueling for the duelists. His nonverbal training with his father had a strong foundation, but it’s not as if he was practicing for extended periods of time. There just isn’t a practical _ need _ for nonverbal dueling in the real world. 

And the mental effort is absolutely _ unreal_.

But Yeonjun is right in front of him, his eyes hazy and jaw set. He’s clearly frustrated too. And that’s enough to keep Kai in the game.

_ Soobin. Is Soobin watching me_? He glances off, his vision still adjusting in the brightness. But his hyung stands out from the crowd, his heart-shaped mouth dropped open as he stares wide-eyed at the colliding spells.

_ Good_.

Kai regards his situation once more, the corners of his mouth crinkling up in a humorless smile at Yeonjun.

Two kisses later and he still hasn’t won. Can’t even compare. Two kisses with Soobin and he’s still a supporting character.

Tears prick his eyes and he grits his teeth, advancing forward. His arm shakes from the effort of overpowering Yeonjun’s lavender spell, but as he feels his sapphire blue lengthen, he gathers more energy, his eyes blowing wide with the thought of _ me, me, me._

Lavender turns to dust as sapphire blue vanquishes Yeonjun’s energy, knocking clean into his forehead.

* * *

Soobin’s world stops turning the moment Yeonjun goes down.

For a moment, he can’t breathe.

_ No_.

In a burst of sound, Yeonjun suddenly moans, twisting uncomfortably. 

Soobin almost cries from the relief that he’s not dead, but then Yeonjun’s hands are coming up to grip his head, and… _ huh_?

Kai stands at the center line, his eyes set as he remains _ en garde_, observing Yeonjun with an almost hellish look.

Yeonjun _ screams_, clutching his head, his elbows pressing in on his ribs as he can’t escape himself. 

And soon, Soobin realizes, his hands are extending out as something creeps out from underneath.

_ Oh my God_.

One of the horns bursts through as Yeonjun cries out. He then clutches the other as if it’ll give up if he pushes on it enough. 

Soobin can only watch in terrible fascination as the horns lengthen and grow, twisting and extending into branched antlers.

Yeonjun’s breath comes out in small, desperate pants, his eyes scrunched closed as bone grows out of his head. Taken out of the fight, he gazes out in a haze.

Directly at Soobin.

Soobin's critical thinking skills go kaput.

Yeonjun bores through him with watery eyes, his antlers finally coming to a standstill about a foot and a half tall each.

Kai shuffles back, looking like he might collapse as he pants from his own efforts.

_ Fuck_, Yeonjun looks _ tired_. The overwhelming desire to hold him hurts Soobin even as the menacing antlers seem to warn him to _ stay away_. 

“Daniel, get up!” Soobin turns to see Jonas at the source of the voice. Even though Jonas is an ass, the kid _ does _ look concerned.

When Soobin glances at Yeonjun again, he is shaking his head in mock coolness, waving off his friend. “I got it,” he laughs with a hoarse breath, his voice unrecognizable. He shakily touches an antler with his free hand, humming with a strange, tired smile.

“Hey. _ Kai_,” Yeonjun seethes, sitting up on his butt even though it must be burning from the fall.

Goosebumps rise on Soobin’s arms as he watches Kai sink to one knee, his eyes hooded in exhaustion. “Yeah.”

Rage.

Rage like Soobin has never seen enters Yeonjun’s collected features. 

_ Oh, no_. 

But when Soobin looks at Professor Nott for her reaction, she is stone-faced, clearly not intending to interrupt.

The antlered Yeonjun fixes his attention on Kai. With a basic flick, he casts a blistering streak that the third-year deflects.

But Yeonjun stacks his attack, gesturing something so intricately that Soobin can’t keep track of the shape.

And this one is so fast that it hits Kai’s throat before the third-year can register it. 

Since he's already prone, he flies back just a few meters, but as soon as he lands, he clutches his neck, choking suddenly and violently, unable to do more than gasp loudly.

“CAUTION!” Professor Nott finally bellows, her face flushing.

Soobin lets out a shaky exhale, wishing it would be over already.

At Nott’s direction, the duelists disengage.

Yeonjun makes quick work of the magic glue and stands on shaky legs, unused to the new weight on his head.

Kai, still choking, shuffles back on his ass and uses the allotted time to hastily treat his throat. When he finally takes a clear albeit shaky breath, Soobin’s heart squeezes.

“Are we okay?” Nott yells.

“YES!” Yeonjun and Kai shout in unison, each looking his own version of wrecked.

She practically spits at them, “Do we need to stop?”

“NO!”

And with that, Kai launches a rocket of a shot at Yeonjun, who doesn’t side-step quick enough to escape. He is once again shoved back several meters, and when Kai attacks again, he deflects it back.

Only, Kai deflects it back _ again_, an unexpected move that knocks Yeonjun’s wand out of his hand and takes him off his feet.

Soobin gasps as Yeonjun falls _ back _ onto his butt.

That’s it.

Nott immediately opens her mouth to declare the victor and end it all.

But of course, this is _ Yeonjun_.

He lifts his wandless right hand and gives a low growl, harshly drawing in the air with his fingers and pushing forward with the full force of his arm.

Kai’s breath is knocked out as he flies backward.

Wandless.

Yeonjun performed wandless magic. 

Soobin helplessly watches Kai whirl midair and fall harshly on the platform, his head striking the mat first. The thud is so dull and dead that bile rises in Soobin’s throat. 

Before he knows it, he’s shoving students aside to flounder to the stage.

“Champion,” Nott proclaims.

“Kai,” Soobin calls out, bracing the edge of the platform and jumping up. “Kai?”

“Daniel Choi.”

The sound of students cheering becomes a blur as Soobin scrambles to Kai, kneeling down to turn him over. Per the rules, there’s no blood, but the boy is out like a light.

_ Fuck_. 

He puts his hand in front of Kai’s mouth and nearly cries when he feels tiny, soft breaths floating over his skin.

Soobin glances up at Nott touching his shoulder. “He’s fine,” she murmurs. “Best to just help him get up so he can shake hands.”

_ How_? Soobin swallows, touching Kai’s cheeks. “Kai,” he attempts, using his best firm voice. It comes out hoarse. “Kai, you gotta get up.”

To his relief, the third-year awakens, his eyes drifting open but wholly unfocused. “형… 아파...” _ It hurts._

“He’s in pain.”

“I’ll get that,” Nott promises, then swishes her wand in a broad pattern.

When she finishes, Kai’s breathing comes out smoother.

“He didn’t quite undo Daniel’s hex,” Nott explains before smiling gently at Kai. “Mr. Huening, I’m happy to cure your magical wounds, but I’m afraid that I can’t heal a natural concussion.” 

And even though Nott speaks with years of experience, Soobin can see the glassiness in her gaze— how it hurts her to see a young student in so much pain. Nott sniffs and clears her throat, standing up. “Shake hands,” she directs broadly.

“I’m sorry, hyung,” Kai whispers as Soobin helps him up.

“No, no,” Soobin objects, shaking his head. “You did well. Hyung is proud of you.”

“Kai,” Taehyun calls out. Soobin looks to see his younger friend holding out a pale wand from below. “Yours.”

Kai smiles, reaching out to take it back. “Thanks, Taehyun.”

“This is the best date I’ve ever been on,” Taehyun boosts, grinning with two thumbs up.

Kai laughs his signature high-pitched bark but winces afterward, clearly undergoing some pain. He then looks up at Soobin like he remembers himself. “Ah, let go,” he mumbles.

So with a pained smile, Soobin lets Kai out of his grip, only fully releasing him when the third-year is clearly standing with his own strength. 

He breathes a little hard, but he’s cogent enough to playfully run his fingers through his hair. “Okay. Off I go,” he smiles, padding off to the center.

As Soobin follows with his eyes, his gaze lands on an almost equally beaten-down Yeonjun. 

Beomgyu stands nearby onstage, watching his own friend nervously. He was clearly doing the same thing as Soobin.

The two fifth-years exchange knowing glances.

And so Yeonjun and Kai shake hands. Soobin sees Yeonjun murmur something, but he’s too far away to hear.

It’s funny, though. It sort of looks like “내가 말했잖아.” _ I told you. _

Soobin snorts at himself. 

_ Crazy_.

* * *

Kai sits on a hard chair with a macaron in his mouth as Soobin stands over him, cooing gently and holding an ice pack to his head.

_This sucks_.

“Let me take you to the Hospital Wing,” Soobin tries for the umpteenth time, petting Kai’s hair.

“No.”

“But—”

“Hyung, I said _ no_,” Kai maintains, embarrassment flushing his ears. Here he is, sitting off in a corner while Duelement continues on without him.

On the Moon platform, some pretty girl with long hair is facing some Slytherin student with fluffy hair and all Kai wants to do is go to bed.

Of _ course _ he figured he probably wasn’t going to win, but it was harder than he expected to lie on the floor so helplessly in front of an audience at the hands of what is now probably his first mortal enemy. 

Not only that, but waking up to Soobin cradling him should’ve been a dream come true. Instead it was laden with enough humiliation to have him cringing until summer.

Kai hates that Soobin is seeing him like this.

His hyung kneels in front of him and Kai closes his eyes, squeezing shut. “Kai, it’s okay. There’s no shame in...”

_ Go away_.

“...just glad you’re okay...”

_ Go away_.

“...nothing should ever hurt you....”

_ Go away. Go away. Go away._

“...I should have stopped it—”

“Just— piss _ off_, Soobin!”

It leaves his mouth before he can think about it. 

_ Shoot. _

Soobin’s lips freeze in place. Kai wishes he could kiss them and make Soobin forget about his lameness today, but a third time won’t win him anything.

He lost to Yeonjun a long time ago.

“Hey, Kai!” Taehyun interrupts, carrying a neat pastry box. “Hannah said we should take some food back to the dorms. You wanna—”

Kai suddenly stands, shoving Soobin’s ice pack hand away as he addresses his friend. “I’m going to the restroom,” he states, trying not to sway as his head pounds.

“Oh…? Okay,” Taehyun concurs, blinking plainly.

“Okay,” Kai repeats, not daring to look at Soobin as he hastens away across the large room towards the exit.

On his way out, he hears boisterous applause and pauses to see that very pretty girl standing on the Moon platform, her face shining with a smile as her opponent turns over in pain.

_ It should’ve been like that_, Kai thinks, his stomach still tight from snapping at Soobin.

He’s just about to turn into the entry tunnel when his ears catch something else.

“...몰수해야 돼.” ..._should forfeit_.

Playing detective wasn’t on the agenda for tonight, but Korean is easy to listen to, so Kai turns in the direction of the sound just to see who it is.

The first thing he sees is antlers. His breath catches, but Yeonjun is leaning against the wall turned away from Kai, so he can’t see him there.

Yeonjun shakes his head. “아냐, 괜찮아.” _ No, it’s fine_.

?

Yeonjun is _ replying_. 

_ To _ someone.

To _ who_?

Kai risks the other person seeing him if he tries to get a look, but he’s so out of it that his famous “careful” trait is quickly becoming forgotten.

So he gets on his tip-toes to peek over Yeonjun.

A shock of platinum blonde hair greets him through the antlers. Beomgyu shakes his head. “형, 뭔가—” _ Hyung, something is_—

Kai lands hard on his heels and paces away without hearing any more of it.

_ Beomgyu knows Yeonjun speaks Korean_? He racks his brain, marching down the corridor. _ Well, they’re best friends. If anyone should know, it’s him. But then… doesn’t he know that Yeonjun is hiding it? Doesn’t he know why he’s hiding it?_

Unless it’s not that deep after all. Maybe Kai’s been deluding himself this whole time. Maybe ‘Let’s Hide My Korean’ is just a game that Yeonjun plays because he’s Slytherin and that’s how Slytherins have fun.

Either way, it leaves a weird feeling in his stomach.

* * *

Beomgyu looks up when he gets the feeling that someone is watching him.

“What?” Yeonjun asks, wincing as he touches the developing velvet on his antlers.

“Nothing.” Beomgyu scratches an itch on the inside of his collar. “귀신이 었나봐.” _ Must have been a ghost_.

* * *

15 minutes after processing that _ the _ Kai Kamal Huening, _ Michael_, God’s favorite child, tells him to piss off, Soobin decides that he must be a terrible person.

He can’t figure out what he did, but it must have been catastrophic.

And _ why _ is Taehyun acting like everything is fine? “He really seemed _ fine_,” the Ravenclaw states, letting Soobin trail behind him as they go to watch the final duel.

“Piss off’ seems ‘fine’ to you?”

“Not ‘fine,’ but he just _ lost _ and you’re treating him like a baby. I wouldn’t last two seconds with you squishing my cheeks like that either.”

“That’s because you’re you.”

“Fine,” Taehyun admits, rolling his eyes. “But it’s still too much.”

“So what, I should stop caring about him?”

“I said stop _ babying _him.”

_ But he is a baby. _

Oh. 

Okay. Fine. Soobin thinks of Kai as a walking, talking baby angel. He’ll be the first to admit it. But he’s not wrong. Kai is just so _ precious_. Soobin can’t bear to see him hurt.

But _ maybe _Taehyun’s right, Soobin admits to himself as he grudgingly spectates the Moon platform. Maybe Kai deserves to be treated like a… like a regular person.

He just doesn’t want to see his loved ones in pain.

Speaking of.

“To decide the final winner! Daniel Choi and Laura Hall!”

Soobin snorts. “I did not expect Laura to be so good.”

“I know,” Taehyun agrees. “She’s a plus-one, too.”

“She’s not in the club?”

“No, not at all.”

“Holy shit.”

“Actually,” Taehyun starts proudly, “I helped Yuuto ask her to be his date.”

“_Really_.” Soobin stares at his friend, wondering how someone could be so smart yet so stupid. “I thought he hated you.”

“Oh, he does. But since Laura tutors me—”

“I’m _ surprised _ that you didn’t ask her yourself.”

Taehyun glances at his hyung, his expression appalled. “_What?_” he asks. “Why would I…” 

Before Soobin can decide whether it’s his place to interfere any further, Professor Warrington beats him to the punch. “At the ready!”

Yeonjun shakes his head at center, clearly still distracted by the antlers rooted to him. Such a hex isn't so easy to break and will probably take at least a day or two to heal.

Standing before him, Laura Hall tries not to laugh at his balancing act. 

_Ah_. Soobin scans for Yuuto in the crowd. After getting knocked out in round two, the poor guy had to watch his plus-one ease her way to the top of the tournament. He can’t be feeling great right now. 

Sure enough, he kind of looks like shit, standing alone and wearing the expression that Soobin only sees on those mornings when Soobin’s snoozed alarm clock wakes the whole room. _ Yikes_.

Focusing back on the platform, Soobin has to admit that Yeonjun and Laura make a good-looking pair. _ Hell, maybe he _ is _ straight_, he jokes dryly to himself, simultaneously cringing at his own virginal gay panic.

So Yeonjun and Laura duel. The minutiae of it eludes Soobin, who can’t keep his eyes off of the antlers affecting Yeonjun’s movement. The weight of them not only forces him to slow down his physicality but also adds unwanted inertia to any falls he takes.

Laura even knocks him onto one of his antlers at one point, causing all the spectators to wince at the impact. Yeonjun hisses in pain but to his credit keeps fighting, adapting to the bone sticking out of his skull. 

Still, he’s clearly tired from his duel with Kai. He’s had three consecutive nonverbal matches while Laura Hall is coming off an easy regular match. Even though she hashed it out with Hannah earlier, she’s no worse for wear.

In the end, all it takes is a well-timed _ Stupefy _ from Laura Hall to get her victory. She makes it look so easy, too.

Yeonjun goes down like a bird, but not before Professor Warrington softens his landing with a swish of her wand. “Slytherin’s Quidditch team will be no good if a player breaks his back!” she lilts.

_ So where was Kai’s soft landing__?_ Soobin retorts silently, recalling the dull thump of head on thinly-carpeted wood. _ Because he’s not in Quidditch, he’s not worth helping?_

“Your Duelement champion is Laura Hall!”

Where _ is _ Kai?

“Taehyun,” a familiar voice interrupts.

Soobin peers past his friend and finds Kai approaching with tired eyes. “Kai, what have you been doing?” Soobin worries.

He doesn’t meet his eyes. “Nothing.”

_Oh. _Soobin withdraws.

“What’s up?” Taehyun asks.

“Can we move our date to tomorrow?”

_ Date?_ Soobin blinks, examining the two again with interest, but Taehyun doesn’t miss a beat.

“Sure. You still wanna meet after Arithmancy?”

“Yeah—”

“I’m sorry,” Soobin interrupts, unable to stop himself. “Are you guys _ dating?_”

Kai’s wrinkles his brows, finally looking up. “What? _ No— _”

“What’s it to you?” Taehyun suddenly challenges, scanning Soobin up and down.

_ Oh. So it’s gonna be like that_. Soobin presses his mouth closed, shaking his head. “Mm-mm,” he hums. “Nothing.”

He’s not that dumb. From Kai’s answer it’s clear that they aren’t actually dating, but they do seem to be hanging out a lot these days and honestly, it makes Soobin feel a little jealous.

“But anyway,” he starts, taking a quick look at the platform. 

Yeonjun is back on his feet with Beomgyu’s help, once again swaying under the weight of his antlers.

Soobin smiles to himself a little. _ Cute_.

Yeonjun meets Laura Hall at center, smiling his easiest smile, and she laughs, giving him a big hug.

It looks nice.

Yeonjun hugs her back, giving her friendly pats and well wishes.

It looks really nice.

“Anyway?” Kai interrupts.

_ Oh_.

“Anyway,” Soobin repeats, retrieving his train of thought. “It’s over now, right?”

The students whoop and holler as the modelesque Laura Hall accepts her literal crown from Yeonjun onstage. It’s just a brown cardboard scissors-cut tiara, but she truly looks good in it.

“OKAY!” Yeonjun roars, rallying the students. His head still looks heavy under the antlers, but he puts on a relaxed face and smiles brightly. “Hannah Firster is our club president and was supposed to give the closing statements, but since she’s in the Hospital Wing, I’ll have to send you off instead:

“First of all, thank you guys _ so much _ for coming out,” he starts, making individual eye contact with several students kindly. “Restarting this club and trying something like this were both very new endeavors for us and it was so fun to see everyone have a great time and show off.

“If you lost in the first round, congratulations, because you got to eat more than the rest of us,” he smirks, sticking out his tongue as some of his friends jeer at him from the audience.

He continues. “No, seriously, it was really great to see everyone give their all but also have fun and be good sports. I hope you guys were able to see new and old faces before the end of the term and maybe make some new friends.

“And please, one more round for Professor Warrington and Professor Nott.”

Soobin joins in with the crowd this time as everyone absolutely roars for the beloved professors, who smile and wave from their referee boxes. 

It kind of _ was _ fun, if Soobin doesn’t think about Kai’s concussion or Yeonjun’s agonizing cries.

And like the cherry on top, Yeonjun takes out his wand and creates a bouquet of white daisies to hand to Warrington, then another of blue calla lilies to float over to Nott on the opposite platform. 

The women light up at the gesture and call out their thanks to Yeonjun, who brushes it off and addresses the crowd again. 

“Anyway, I won’t keep you guys any longer than this. If you’re going home for the holidays, I hope you laugh a lot with your families and I’ll miss you until the new year. If you’re staying…” He whistles suggestively. “I’ll see you at the Yule Ball before the end of the month.

“My club members, I love you, thanks for training. Plus-ones, thanks for putting your trust in us. Last week of the term!”

A final cheer comes from the students and Yeonjun claps along this time. “Okay, get out of here!” he laughs, waving off the students.

He’s picture-perfect. 

As students taper off, chatting boisterously, Yeonjun gives Laura another hug. They sway a little, obviously very close friends. When Ksenia comes up with a bouquet of flowers for Yeonjun, he pulls back, smiling sheepishly at the gesture.

And Soobin just stands there, watching Yeonjun’s friends gather around him like revolving planets.

“Hyung?” he hears.

He turns to smile at his favorite boy.

Soobin may not be the center of a solar system, but he _ does _ have someone who sticks to him like gum.

That’s pretty good too.

* * *

Kai wants to leave Duelement _ yesterday_, but Taehyun reiterates that Hannah said they can take all the sweets. He doesn’t think he’ll be in the mood to eat for a long time, but Taehyun seems kind of excited about it, so he wants to help his friend.

So there they are, two 14-year-olds hoarding sweets into boxes as the last of the students clear out of the hall.

While they pack up, Kai’s brain pushes into _ full _ overdrive. He doesn’t know whether to apologize to Soobin for swearing, analyze if the antler curse was overkill, or deal with the fact that Beomgyu and Yeonjun speak Korean together while Yeonjun gets away with being a monolingual American to everyone else.

Mostly he’s just regretting ever going down to the lower floors of the castle in the first place.

_ My God, why can’t he just be _ Korean_? What kind of Korean (Korean-American?) has to pretend that they aren’t Korean (Korean-American?)? _

_ N O T H I N G M A K E S S E N S E ! _

He vaguely hears Taehyun’s voice saying something.

_ W H Y A M I G O I N G I N S A N E _

Hands shake his arm.

_ I C A n t t h i n k _

The sharp pain of a pinch on his arm has him flinching. “Ah! What!” he yelps, rubbing his arm.

“Do you know the Dungeon password or not?”

Kai blinks at Taehyun, trying to clear up the blur in his vision that’s making the Ravenclaw’s face look like a bubble. “What’re you saying?”

“The password. Dungeon.”

_ Password? _

…

_Do I know any passwords?_

“Forget it.”

_ Did I know it? _

When Kai blinks again, they’re in the middle of the room with Soobin.

_ Huh… _

His hyung’s mouth moves in front of him and Kai just stares at it as no tangible words reach his ears.

Indistinguishable words swim around him, but he keeps making effort at eye contact. It’s scary, but he doesn’t want to be impolite by saying something (even though it feels like his flesh is churning).

Kai glances off and sees, glitching into his field of vision, black crocodile boots.

He looks up.

Yeonjun says something to Blonde Hair next to him. Blonde Hair laughs and reaches out for Soobin.

_ What is this_… 

Soobin pivots to address Blonde Hair, the movement fracturing into quarter-second frames that click by. A projector reel that Kai can’t stop.

Soobin says something. Doesn’t look at Yeonjun. 

Yeonjun glances down.

Kai glances too.

Something falls out of Soobin’s pocket.

Soobin swivels to Kai with a gentle smile and big, bright, oblivious eyes.

_ Not mine._

Yeonjun bends down and picks up the envelope.

_ It hurts so much_.

Yeonjun reaches out. “Soo—”

“_Hyung_,” Kai shudders, tugging Soobin’s sleeve. “I don’t feel good.”

He’s not even sure if the words come out right. They feel garbled in his mouth, but Soobin must understand the urgency because before Kai knows it, he’s on Soobin’s back, his hyung’s solid warmth comforting him.

Soobin says something to the others before jogging away, the third-year clinging onto him weakly. 

Kai spares a look back, the world still glitching in and out of reality.

Imperial antlers and knife-like eyes sear through him. In his two hands, Yeonjun holds an envelope adorned with a yellow balloon sticker.

_ Sorry, hyung_, Kai laments, closing his eyes to breathe in Soobin. _ I promise this is the last time. _

And it is.

* * *

Beomgyu’s cheap frog face watch has been steadily falling apart since he first got it from his sister four years ago, but it diligently displays 3:17AM from its mouth as he pads down a spiral staircase, willing himself awake.

When he reaches the Dungeon, he finds that he surprisingly likes it more at this time of night. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen this common room with no one in it, but the emptiness makes him feel more at peace, in a way.

But he’s not here at 3:17AM for the hell of it nor does he want to stay awake any longer than necessary, so he continues on, shuffling to the entryway with a massive yawn.

_ It’s not Yeonjun, so who the hell is ambushing me in the middle of the night?_ he wonders, undoing the locks in a few half-hearted spell attempts.

The wood groans with the effort of opening at such a late hour.

“Yeah, yeah, tell it to the union,” he grumbles.

With even further complaint, the door creaks and spits until it finally cracks open enough for Beomgyu to push it on his own and reveal his visitor.

_ Oh_. 

Well.

“Hi.” 

Beomgyu has to stop himself from reacting like a fool, keeping his grip on the door as he lays eyes on Kang Taehyun in plaid pajamas.

_ Shit_. 

Should he say something? What is there to say? They’re on a break. Or broken up. Beomgyu should… say something, right? But _ Taehyun _ is the one who is here.

He’s here to see Beomgyu.

“Hey,” he replies, tempering himself from falling too deep into Taehyun’s eyes. They kind of look like the eyes on his watch, now that he’s seeing them up close for the first time in a few days.

_ Great_. _ Another possession lost_.

A silence passes between them as Beomgyu realizes that maybe Taehyun doesn’t have a plan after all— that maybe Taehyun doesn’t even have an apology in his mind.

Beomgyu exhales quietly. “Did you come here for something?” he inquires, refusing to play the desperate lover in this drama.

“Uh. Uh…” Taehyun trails off, blinking suddenly. He reaches into his pants pocket, swallowing and then clearing his throat. “Yeah, just—”

And from his pocket he pulls out a red, heart-shaped sponge no bigger than the palm of his hand. “Can I show you a magic trick?”

_ Uh oh_.

Beomgyu nods, keeping a watchful eye on his own heart too.

A little breath escapes Taehyun and his eyelids flutter as he displays the sponge. “This is—” He clears his throat, looking down sheepishly. “This is Kang Taehyun’s heart.”

Blood rushes to Beomgyu’s ears at the introduction and he presses his lips together hard, clinging onto the door.

Taehyun lets out a faint laugh, clearly unaware of his effect on his hyung. He holds the heart between two fingers, focusing anywhere but on Beomgyu. “Just a… normal heart. So the story goes that Kang Taehyun—”

He captures the heart with his right hand, enclosing it in a loose fist. “—always thought that his heart belo— belonged to him. In his chest.”

He imitates the sound of a heartbeat, pulsing his fingers like they make up a ribcage. “But one day, when he looked inside of himself—”

Taehyun opens his fist with a shaky flourish, a deep flush painting his neck in pink. The sponge heart is missing. “—he suddenly realized that it was gone.”

He finally glances at Beomgyu, his face fraught with expectation. Like this, the ordinarily fact-concerned, no-shits-given Ravenclaw looks gentle. 

Soft. 

_ Awkward_.

“So wh— where was it?” he continues like he didn’t just fully trip over his words, and oh, it’s so over for Beomgyu. 

Still, Taehyun waits patiently for his hyung who is having an out-of-body experience. Beomgyu finally has the sense to shake his head, his voice coming out croaky. “I don’t know.”

And like the final nail in the coffin, Taehyun tentatively steps forward and reaches behind the Slytherin’s ear with his left hand, pulling out the heart sponge. “It was with Choi Beomgyu.”

Every drip in the corridor _ pierces _ the silence as Beomgyu gawks at the little heart sponge. 

Taehyun lets out a small cough, this last sentiment quieter: “Taehyun had forgotten that he gave it to his hyung for safekeeping.”

Anyone else might think such words to be insincere, but to Beomgyu they are more precious than cola gummies, peach rings, and chocolate-covered pretzels at the candy shop.

At the lack of Beomgyu’s response, Taehyun backs down. “Oh… okay,” he concludes, focusing downward and pocketing the heart. “That’s the… trick.”

“Hm,” Beomgyu sounds, because he’s _ actually _ a goner for a fourth-year. His sister is never gonna let him live this down. 

And yeah, he should probably just put Taehyun out of his misery already, but in their years of knowing each other, Beomgyu has never seen him act like _ this_. Even when Beomgyu went to great lengths to make Taehyun blush, the Ravenclaw always acted cool and confident.

This is special, just for Beomgyu. He wants to remember this.

So it’s with great pain and pleasure when he finally pulls Taehyun in, wrapping his arms loosely around his boyfriend’s waist.

Taehyun grips Beomgyu’s shoulders, sucking in a breath like he’s surprised, but Beomgyu can’t imagine that Taehyun doesn’t know just how whipped he is.

Still, it’s not fair for Taehyun to get away with everything because he’s cute, so Beomgyu exacts his revenge, pulling back to flick his boyfriend’s forehead.

“_Ah__!_” the Ravenclaw winces, recoiling at the attack, but Beomgyu is already holding him close again, resting his chin on Taehyun’s shoulder with a pout.

“Laura Hall is not prettier than I am,” he grumbles.

A little hesitation precedes Taehyun’s soft snort. And in a rare stroke indeed, no snarky quip follows. He just hugs him. “Of course she’s not.”

_ Good_. Beomgyu smiles into Taehyun’s shoulder, wishing that he wasn’t so weak for a boy, but also thankful that he’s weak for _ this _ boy.

_ Thank God for Kang Taehyun_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [carrd](https://godtyun.carrd.co/).  
can you believe i expected this chapter to be short?  
weekly updates!


	22. Clue

When Kai emerges from the Hospital Wing the following afternoon, he gets less than a hero’s welcome from the student body.

Okay, correction: it’s not as if _everyone_ heard about Duelement. Obviously, it was a private affair with only Dueling Club members and plus-ones. Still, word must have gotten around about Yeonjun and Kai’s heated duel, because suddenly it feels like Slytherins are glaring him down for no reason as he passes them by. He even almost loses his balance on a moving staircase when he gets “accidentally” knocked into the railing by Jonas Mogen. “My bad,” the Norwegian jeers, not even looking him in the eye as he saunters on by with his Slytherin friends. Kai just grips the railing, his heart pounding from his second near-death experience in 24 hours.

Awesome.

He has no choice but to put it out of his mind, doing his best to disguise the limp he’s also discovered as he makes his way to the upper floors. His head aches but his brain works harder, strategizing for an efficient clue-gathering trip.

Game plan: get to know. If all goes well, he should gather at least a little information about Taehyun’s professor. The Ravenclaw already told him that she keeps to herself and is rather introverted. That’s fine and well, but Kai wants to play the long game. He wants to know _anything_ that will help him understand what’s going on with Yeonjun.

It’s funny, though: everything in his brain is so serious, but everything outside of him is so happy. If he turns off his mind, the atmosphere of Hogwarts this week is joyous and relaxed. It’s the last week of the term and everyone is bursting with vacation energy. Girls behind him laugh with each other and a quarter of the students wear some kind of holiday accessory ranging from reindeer headbands and holly brooches to novelty menorah sunglasses.

The festiveness makes Kai forget himself. Or maybe remember himself. Memories of Christmas spent with his family have his shoulders relaxing a little. His younger sister would tuck her hair into a low ponytail and help Mom bake monkey bread because it was Dad’s favorite special breakfast. His older sister sang carols for their uncles even though she was tired, so Kai played Dad’s guitar to accompany her. They shared knowing glances during the song— glances that dreamed of a bigger stage even as they cringed away from the attention.

It feels like so long ago now. Since coming to Hogwarts, Kai has spent two Christmases in the Common Room with other Hufflepuffs who also decided not to go home. It’s a bit lonely without hearing his older sister sing, but he sleeps without too much trouble. It’s better here, anyway.

Kai finally reaches the top floor and, among the scattered reindeer headbands, spots one real set of antlers ahead of him.

He skips a breath but doesn’t stop walking as he eyes Yeonjun stepping out of a doored room and checking out the passersby. A couple of his friends greet him warmly, but his response is decidedly less animated than usual. 

The crack that Kai remembers is showing through, but he resolves to not turn the other way. This corridor is the most direct path to Taehyun’s classroom. He will not budge. He will be brave.

But this is a two-for-one scary special, because who should come out behind Yeonjun but Beomgyu? The yellowness of the fifth-year’s dyed hair has now changed into a grayish blonde, somehow making him look even more intimidating in an elegant fashion.

Kai stares at these two handsome Slytherin boys, wondering if maybe he should pretend he doesn’t see them after all, but he has to laugh at himself. _ I think I’ve come too far to run now_. “Beomgyu, Daniel,” he calls out from a distance in English.

The two turn around at their names as they loiter outside the room, Beomgyu responding first with a half-smile. “Hey,” he says as Kai approaches them. “How are you doing?” As if to punctuate, he pats the Hufflepuff’s head.

“I’m doing okay,” Kai assures, daring to look at Yeonjun. The sharp-eyed boy leans against the wall, his expression predictably unreadable. “The antlers look better, too.”

It’s true. Where before they were long and broad, now they only stick out a handful of centimeters from his head, the shape of the bone rounded and smooth as it heals down. “I know, he’s so festive,” Beomgyu coos, earning a graceless snort from Yeonjun.

“Whatever,” the sixth-year mutters, feeling the fuzz on one antler. “What are you up to, Kai.”

_Yikes_. It’s not even a question. “I have a date with Taehyun.”

Beomgyu’s eyes open wide with incredulousness. “You wanna try that again?”

“Ah, no!” Kai sputters, correcting himself. “It’s— uh. We’re hanging out. Just hanging out. I just meant like an appointment—”

Beomgyu barks out a laugh, shaking his head. “No, I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Tell him I miss him.”

_ Oh? _ “Did you…” Kai looks between Yeonjun and Beomgyu. _Now_ he gets why Taehyun asked him for the Dungeon password during Duelement. He wanted to get his boyfriend back. “Uh…”

Beomgyu nods. “Yeah, we made up.”

“Congrats,” Kai lilts with a smile. He’s been worried about Taehyun these past few days. _ Something _ should work out for him. “You’re gonna go to the Yule Ball together then?” He glances down at his watch, keeping an eye on the time.

“Of course,” the blonde smiles. “What about you? Are you going?”

“Me?” Kai pauses, a little struck by the question. Up until yesterday he was still holding onto hope for Soobin, so now it feels kind of strange to rethink his plan. Sinking deep into his thoughts, the words naturally come out in Korean. “데이트 상대를 찾아야 할 것 같아욤…”

“He still has to find a date,” Beomgyu interprets for Yeonjun.

Kai examines his blonde hyung with new eyes. _ Right. This is the situation_. He smiles hard, suddenly feeling distant from Yeonjun and Beomgyu. Not only do Beomgyu and Yeonjun privately speak in Korean, but Beomgyu is actively _helping_ him hide it from others.

_ I have to meet Taehyun and that professor_. “But it’s okay. I don’t _ have _ to go. I’m used to spending Christmas in the Common Room,” he explains in English again.

Yeonjun nods. “Well, I’m sure you’ll find someone.” He sniffs a little, and suddenly Kai becomes aware that his eyes are a little puffy. _ Am I imagining it? _

“Yeah, you’re uniquely cute,” Beomgyu adds, pointing at Kai’s face. “Even if you don’t ask someone, I’m sure someone shyer than you will be interested. You just have to look out for them.” His words should be comforting, but now Kai is looking closely at him and _ his _ eyes look red. 

The castle is well-insulated today. It is not cold. _ Have they been crying? _“Yeah,” Kai parrots, feeling a little outside of himself. “Anyway, I should probably go meet Taehyun.”

Yeonjun slings an arm around Beomgyu, nodding with the emptiest of smiles. “‘Kay, take care,” he says. Somehow, this blank positivity is more terrifying than any glare he’s shot Kai’s way. 

Or maybe it’s heartbreaking.

* * *

Upon entering this particular Astronomy classroom, Kai is overwhelmed by the magical starscapes that cover almost all of the empty wall in the dome-shaped room. They piece together like a mosaic, drawing his attention upward.

So distracted is he that he bumps into a table, nearly falling onto it except that he manages to catch himself with a surprised grunt.

“Kai!” Taehyun whisper-yells.

Kai recovers and jogs between the scattered worktables to meet his Ravenclaw friend who is surrounded by textbooks and papers. “What is all of this?” he asks, thumbing open one of the tomes. “I thought you didn’t have an exam for Astronomy.”

“We don’t, but she gave me some materials to get ahead for next term.” Before Kai can even react: “Don’t give me that look. I’m doing this to buy you time.”

“You’re also a Ravenclaw,” Kai points out with a smile.

Taehyun meets his eyes and snorts. “Just act natural, okay?” The fourth-year clears his throat. “Professor?”

Kai takes a breath and turns around to the look at the front of the classroom. On the floor-to-ceiling chalkboard are various moving drawings as well as a few Muggle posters of Neil deGrasse Tyson. Hanging at the top of the board is a crayon-drawn banner with stars, comets, and a sentiment written out in colorful, blocky letters: **THANK YOU, PROF. AADNEVIK!**

> _ The wood on the door ripples. From the corner of his eye, Kai sees Taehyun jump back like it’ll reach out and bite him. When the visage settles, letters carved into the wood come into the light, spelling out a name. _
> 
> _ANNE AADNEVIK, Astronomy._

Kai stares at the name, a little shell-shocked that he’s finally seeing it out in the open. Not only that, but he’s finally seeing it after two full years at Hogwarts. How could he not have known at least her name? _ Maybe I don’t know this place as well as I thought I did_.

Sitting at her podium on the side of the chalkboard is Professor Anne Aadnevik, a 60-something woman of small stature with pixie-cut, fluffy copper hair that must have been fiery red in her youth. She looks up from her papers at Taehyun calling out, simply meeting his eyes. Her very-freckled face is striking in the light.

“My friend is really shy, but he loves stars. Could he look around while I work?”

Her eyes flit to Kai, who stands straight as an arrow. “Sure,” she agrees, her light Scandinavian voice only softly carrying across the room. She makes a small gesture to the trinket-filled walls, her eyes drawn downward once more. “Anything you like.”

_ Oh. Okay. She’s withdrawn_. Kai looks to Taehyun, who nods encouragingly. “Uh, thank you,” Kai stutters, unexpectedly meeting a fellow shy person for the first time in a while. “I’ll just… I won’t touch anything.”

She nods with a little smile and keeps her head down, evidently done with the interaction.

Just encountering that energy has Kai only gently meandering around the walls, afraid of getting in the way or interfering with Aadnevik’s carefully-decorated classroom. It reminds him of primary school— the colors and cheesy posters and trinkets that are placed for students’ excitement and achievement. _ Astronomy is a core class_, he reflects, lightly inspecting each toy and model he passes. Not a lot of students care for the subject except those who are good at science. It would be hard for a professor to incite enthusiasm, but Aadnevik is at least trying. And, well, this really is the most colorful classroom that Kai has seen at Hogwarts.

He nervously glances up at the hanging banner again. **THANK YOU, PROF. AADNEVIK!**

Could such a person really be extorting a student?

Soon he passes the front of the room, glazing over the deGrasse Tyson posters and finding himself looking up at the starscapes again. He feels a little too nervous to look at Aadnevik again so instead he politely pads to the next available wall, glancing back at Taehyun.

The Ravenclaw is looking at him with a curious expression. _ Anything? _ he mouths.

Kai shakes his head the tiniest bit, refocusing on the counters. A floating model of the Solar System, a black-and-white tripod telescope, a propped-open photo album…

_ Wow_, Kai smiles, stopping at the album. The right page is dedicated to photos of last year’s classes posed atop the Astronomy Tower, their smiling faces moving gently inside the magical photograph. In permanent marker below the photo: **20XX! SHOOT FOR THE STARS!**

But where the right page is crammed with photos of various groups posing goofily, the left page is rather official, sporting just one stately photo of Aadnevik with a student, the two of them holding a document between them.

Kai flips through the book, amazed at how thick it is. It probably goes back decades, each photo spread identical in nature with the photo quality deteriorating the farther back he goes. 

Just as he’s about to move on and keep walking, Kai is surprised by Taehyun coming up to his side. “What’s that?” he asks, looking closer.

“It’s like a scrapbook of all her classes ever,” Kai whispers, pointing out the different pages. “But what’s the left side supposed to be? Student of the year?”

Taehyun pauses, then sucks in a breath. “Her mentee,” he guesses quietly, not quite leaning in with Kai. He idly sifts through a book sitting on the counter as if he’s just taking a break to look. “Every year she partners with a seventh-year who’s interested in working with her and she oversees their research project for things like teaching or publishing.”

“Whoa. Cool.” Kai gets as far back as 2007 before his hand falls and he stands in silence.

“What?” Taehyun asks.

_ This is gross_. “I think I took this too far,” he admits quietly, staring down at his fingers. He didn’t want to act like this. “I think I screwed everything up and now I’m just being petty.” He takes a look at Professor Aadnevik, who has now disappeared underneath some bookshelves, the sound of books being reorganized the only sound from her. Such a person cannot be…

“_Kai_.” Taehyun’s steady voice lifts him from his mental spiral. “You said this has something to do with Daniel, right?”

Right. Yeonjun. The environment of fun space posters is immediately muted against his memories of Yeonjun’s various uneasy expressions. “Yeah,” he replies. “Why?”

Taehyun nods at the album. “1986.”

_ 1986? _ Kai blinks at him, then looks down at the photo album. _ What…? _ But without questioning, he flips backwards, his eyes peeled for that number. His first flip yields 1980, the first spread of the book. Two calculated flips later and he lands on:

1986.

On the right: two staticky images of classes on the Astronomy Tower. The students’ uniforms are a little different— fitting for the decade but shocking for Kai who has never seen the timeline of the uniforms, only the current style.

On the left: a single image of Aadnevik as a young woman with a male student. It throws Kai off how she looks as young as he does, her baby face making it seem as if the two photo subjects are friends rather than professor and student. But it’s clearly her in her free-spirited faculty robes with a sharply-dressed student.

It would be a cool, interesting photo if the student in question wasn’t a _ carbon copy _ of Yeonjun. Kai’s mouth drops open. The label below: **ANNE AADNEVIK & HONG NAK CHOI (H).**

Taehyun beats him to it. “That’s Daniel’s dad. Oh my God. _ Oh my God_.” His whispers rise to hyperventilating squeaks until Kai is shooting him a desperate look of _ stop! _

Choi Hongnak? Kai examines the photo, his heart pounding out of his chest. Little volts of electricity shoot through his fingers. “Wait, how do you know?” he whispers, suddenly aware of any sudden movements that might alert the professor.

“Soobin was looking through a Quidditch book and he was in there. He was the Seeker for the ‘86 Hufflepuff team. This guy has to be a _ legend_,” Taehyun emphasizes, his large eyes only going wider at the clue.

Shit. _ Shit_. Aadnevik taught Yeonjun’s dad— worked _ closely _ with Yeonjun’s dad. Not only that, but Yeonjun’s dad really is a Hufflepuff legend. Kai isn’t great with history, but he is well-aware of his House’s 1986 Quidditch Team. There’s a whole trophy case dedicated to them in the Common Room, but he never looked closely at their faces in the team photos. _ This is unbelievable_. “Okay,” he confirms, giving his friend a nod.

Taehyun nods back before oh-so-casually heading back to his table to “do work.”

Before getting into character, Kai takes another good look at the photo. Aadnevik has an easygoing closed-mouth smile that contrasts the seriousness of Choi Hongnak, whose eyes ring familiar to Kai’s danger sensors. But Aadnevik, introverted as she seems in real life, looks rather relaxed next to the student, even putting her arm on his back.

_ They were friends_. Kai wonders what it could be that makes Yeonjun’s father the missing puzzle piece.

And thus, the need for acting begins. “Um, Professor Aadnevik?” he calls out meekly, earning Aadnevik getting up from the floor. At her attention, he points to the photo album. “Did you know Ch— Hongnak _ Choy__?_”

“Hongnak?” she asks, her voice still almost too soft. “Ah, that was a long time ago. Yes, he was my student.”

He steps closer just to hear her better. “That’s great,” Kai smiles, looking between her and the photo album. “Actually, I have a report on the 1986 Hufflepuff Quidditch Team due this week. If you knew the Seeker, that would be great stuff for my project.”

This is risky. As far as _ Kai _ knows, Aadnevik only knows that Kai and _ Taehyun _ are friends. Whether she’s seen _ Yeonjun _ with Kai or even Taehyun is uncertain, but Kai has to bank on the hope that she takes him at face value. In hindsight, if he knew that such a central piece of evidence would come up from this visit, he wouldn’t have shown up for Taehyun at all. However, this is the situation and he really doesn’t want to wait until the new year to investigate, especially if Daniel might be in even worse trouble then. 

Kai has a suspect here and now. _ Please believe me. _

The professor nods a little but makes no move to walk over. “Oh, that’s _ wonderful_,” she says, though she seems incapable of going more than one decibel above her normal speaking volume. Her expression is simply pleasant. It’s a familiar face to Kai. “Yes, I advised Hongnak on a seventh-year project. I’m afraid I don’t know much about his Quidditch pursuits— only his academics.”

_ Don’t let her get away_. “Well,” Kai continues, bluffing on the go, “I’ve been meaning to write a short bio for the most famous players on that team. Academic or personal details are great, too.” This is bold. Kai is solely trusting that Hongnak is a famous player based on Taehyun’s reaction. If it’s not true, then he might be screwed, but then again, how can a Seeker of such a team not be famous?

“Ah.” Aadnevik finally emerges from her various counters, padding over to Kai and the photo album. The trend for faculty robes since Kai has entered Hogwarts has consisted of thick, structured garments with padding _ everywhere_, but Aadnevik keeps it relaxed with a high-collar button-down shirt tucked into a long, airy skirt that might actually be pants. (Kai cannot tell.)

What he _ can _ tell when she comes closer is that she is exactly the height and build of the woman he remembers from the corridor with Yeonjun. He’s about Yeonjun’s height, so his difference with Aadnevik is exactly the same. It has him swallowing dry.

The professor comes to stop, loosely crossing her arms. Acknowledging the photo: “Hongnak was very, very bright. You know he had come straight from South Korea? But his English was very good. Hardly an accent at all.”

_ That checks out_, Kai notes, wondering if perhaps it was Hongnak who taught his son English. Aadnevik waits patiently for Kai, so he quickly says “Oh. Cool. Yeah, I didn’t know that.” Thinking fast: “What was his track, if you remember?”

“The profession he sought?”

“Mhm.”

“I believe it was Curse-Breaking, but I can’t be sure.” Aadnevik steps closer and puts a finger to the photo, gesturing to the title of the document held between the subjects. “I did know his thesis well, though.”

“_Oh_,” Kai fake hums, as if that wasn’t what he wanted to know about all along. The document title in the photo is too blurry to read. “What kind of…?”

He almost turns to dust when Aadnevik looks at him. _Does she know?_

“Just a thought experiment.” She pulls back, striding back to her podium. “A bit inappropriate to reference on a school project.”

“Oh.” _ Damn it. If I ask anything else, she’ll know that something is up_. While Aadnevik is turned away, Kai quickly glances back at Taehyun, who shrugs. “Well, it sounds cool.”

The red-haired professor sits down at her podium, once again disengaged. “Slorians thought so,” she practically murmurs. But Kai hears.

_Headmaster Slorians_. Kai internally pinches himself. _ Slorians knew about the project; I can ask him! _ “Well, that’s helpful enough. Thank you. I didn’t really expect to find any personal information, so that’s fine.”

Aadnevik nods, giving Kai a delayed smile. “Not a problem. Very nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you,” he echoes, his mind far away. On his way back to Taehyun he gives an abrupt signal: _ LET’S WRAP IT UP _. The Ravenclaw nods and continues to do his work while Kai goes back to the photo, comparing it against her other past photo ops.

Five or so minutes later, Taehyun packs up his things. “Professor, thank you for the materials.”

“No problem, Terry. Have a good holiday.”

“You too,” he replies.

Kai, who at this point is sitting against a table and watching the ceiling move, gladly follows his friend out the door. His body still buzzes with the new information. The two friends link arms, walking along peacefully while Kai gently appeases his limp. “So there’s something up with Yeonjun’s dad’s thesis. She said something about Slorians— I feel like he knows about it.”

“I wish you would tell me more about what’s going on,” Taehyun complains. “I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s happening.”

Kai sighs. He wants to tell Taehyun. He really does. But at the same time, he doesn’t want this quest to get his friend into trouble, especially when Kai can feel himself already on the edge of something dangerous.

Best to leave Taehyun in the dark. He doesn’t need to know about Yeonjun’s Korean and he _ especially _ doesn’t need to know about Beomgyu’s complicity— not when Taehyun and Beomgyu just got back together. “I heard you got Beomgyu back,” he deflects, patting Taehyun’s arm. “Nice job.”

And Taehyun doesn’t really seem satisfied by that answer, but he smiles anyway. “I thought I was gonna pass out. I did a magic trick with a sponge heart and he said nothing for _ five full seconds_.”

“Incredible,” Kai scoffs. “Well, I’m not surprised that he gave in since he’s in love with you.”

At that, Taehyun shoves him playfully, his eyebrows rising in shock. “You can’t say that!”

Kai laughs high and shrill, but he can’t be bothered by the other students looking. “But it’s true,” he insists as they approach the first set of staircases. _ Ah. _ “Okay, I gotta go back to the Hospital Wing. But I’ll see you later?”

“I have a packed schedule,” Taehyun frowns, leaning on the railing as Kai takes a step down. “But I wanna come with you to Slorians’ office, okay?”

Damn, Kai _really_ doesn’t want Taehyun to get too involved. “Uh…”

“Come on, _ please_. You kind of need me.”

Kai finally sighs, giving a shrug. “Okay. Are you free on Friday?”

Taehyun’s eyes sparkle. “Yeah, just say the word.”

“Let’s meet at the announcements board at 11?”

“Perfect.”

“Okay, good luck!” Kai boosts, taking another couple steps down, when:

“Kai?” Taehyun calls. When Kai stops in his tracks to turn, he continues: “Why did you really challenge Daniel to a nonverbal duel?”

Kai grips the rail shakily. He didn’t expect such a question and he’s not sure that he’s equipped to give a calculated answer, so he just goes for it.

“I wanted to know if he could go wandless.”

He doesn’t have time to figure out if that’s too much or too little to offer to Taehyun because the staircase starts moving, which means he has limited time to make the route he wants. So without more than a final wave, he rushes down the stairs, still carefully holding onto the rail with his mind racing.

Taehyun watches him go, uneasiness creeping back into his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think at some point this must've been a yeonbin au, but i can't remember anymore... hm...  
weekly updates!  
come yell at me: [carrd](https://godtyun.carrd.co/).  



	23. The Picture of Daniel Choi

Wednesday comes, and so does Frog Choir.

Yeonjun gently squeezes the bumpy toad in his hands, waiting for his turn to go up and sing. As his fellow Frog Choir members present in the order that was randomized by Professor Dawn Ito last week, he takes a deep breath.

He looks down at the toad. _This_ toad, a rather fat creature named Wobo Gobo, is the choir’s favorite. He is so fat that he is the only one of Professor Ito’s toads who can sink into the thick, puffed performance pillows. And yet he is undisturbed, his eyes drooping as he purrs a half-asleep snore. Yeonjun smiles. _ So cute_. Four weeks ago he might have cried from it. He was that sensitive to the smallest of stimuli. But now he just stares, wondering if turning the human population into toads could solve all of his problems.

“Ksenia Bure,” Professor Ito calls.

Ksenia ascends the steps to stand in front of the choir, looking out at the Great Hall which is empty, save for the other members scattered up front. Yeonjun thinks she looks a little nervous, but when she introduces her aria, he knows that she is in her element.

“We’ve almost reached the end, haven’t we?” whispers Frederick Feierabend from across the table.

Yeonjun nods, pointing to Frederick, Virginia Bay (who watches Ksenia with starry eyes, he notices), himself, then finally: a lanky Gryffindor freshman whose name still eludes him even after several months. 

Frederick nods, sitting back to watch Ksenia sing.

Watching his friend perform her final solo of the term should be his top priority, but Yeonjun is a little distracted. He keeps glancing towards the large double doors of the Hall, his heart is racing at the thought of something else.

This is the Frog Choir’s final meeting before the Yule Ball. This is Yeonjun’s last chance to nail down Hans.

Hans, the caretaker of Hogwarts, is an aloof, unsociable fellow. Despite his not-quite middle age, his stringy hair has gone grey and is always drawn into a severe low knot, pulling his face skin so tightly outward that it’s nearly impossible to look him in the eye. No one even knows if his name is really Hans. Rumor has it that he once burned a student’s hands for stealing a rare Romanian tea from his shelf in the kitchens. As a result, some students started calling him Hands, but when they graduated from Hogwarts, oral history turned Hands into Hans. Not that he responds to such a name. Not that any student dares to address him in the first place.

Except for Yeonjun. _ Especially _ today.

“How was I?” Ksenia bubbles, sitting back down next to Yeonjun. Now free of a toad, she smiles brightly, looking ten kilos lighter from the tension she was holding before.

Yeonjun swallows the guilt of having not paid attention at all. He nods with practiced enthusiasm. “Great.”

“Could’ve mixed a little more near the end,” Frederick butts in. “But it was alright, I suppose.”

Ksenia’s face goes pink as she glares daggers at Frederick. “And I suppose you’re about to blow us away with _ Largo al factotum_,” she jeers.

Yeonjun sniggers quietly.

“Frederick Feierabend,” Professor Ito calls, forcing Frederick to turn his attention.

Yeonjun peeks at the double doors once more, his leg now bouncing subconsciously. Wobo Gobo grunts unhappily at the movement, so Yeonjun sets him on the table, keeping one hand on the toad’s bumpy side to appease him. “Sorry,” he breathes.

Still no Hans.

Frederick starts. “I’ll be performing…”

_ Aadnevik said that she got him the list. Where is he? _Yeonjun swallows nervously at the possibility that perhaps Hans never received the singing order after all. That perhaps Yeonjun once again has to deal with setbacks that are out of his control. 

_ As if I’m in control of anything_, he bites silently. But he’s run out of venom to spit. And even if he did, he doesn’t know who he should spit at anymore. Aadnevik? Dad? Kai? Himself?

Like much of his life these days, time passes in a haze. Frederick comes back into view sans toad, his ears burning crimson.

Yeonjun blinks, turning to Ksenia who gives Frederick a surprisingly pitying look. “What happened?”

She looks away. “His voice cracked on the final note,” she whispers before taking a haughty breath. Loudly, she drawls, “I don’t see what there’s to be embarrassed about. You’re better than half the boys, anyway.”

Ksenia’s compliments, while in general not very sincere-sounding, are considered to be rare. Frederick holds his head in his hands, looking only a little consoled. “Thanks,” he mumbles.

Yeonjun feels a little sorry for Frederick, but not sorry enough to forget his biggest worry.

“Daniel Choi.”

_ Ah. Me._ He’s grown used to the American name over his time at Hogwarts. He did also use it during his brief time in California with his Muggle aunt and uncle, but it still rings slightly unfamiliar. He thought that using his _ real _ name with his Korean (and Korean-ish) peers would make him feel a little more like himself. He should have known that it would bite him in the ass instead.

And now Hans isn’t even coming.

Yeonjun presses his lips together, doing his best not to mope up to the raised stage. He has a reputation to keep, after all. An image to preserve: _ the Confident American_.

Just as he opens his mouth to speak, a distinct creaking sound emerges from the other side of the hall. 

Yeonjun holds his breath as a tall figure shuffles inside, his hands wringing together nervously.

It’s Hans.

“Hello again!” Professor Ito calls out. “You’ve come to watch?”

Hans nods with his whole head, sitting down near the back.

Yeonjun can hardly believe it. His heart pounds loudly. If Wobo Gobo wasn’t so heavy, everyone might see his hands shaking. “My piece is—”

And as he starts to sing, everything else washes away. While people have taken many things from him, they have not taken his singing. 

Perhaps it’s a mistake to look at Hans, but Yeonjun has not yet run away from his predicament, so he dares to look. The caretaker sits with his shoulders drawn down and his mouth wide open in awe. _ Get out_, he finds himself praying. _ You’ll get into trouble too_.

But Hans remains, swaying as Yeonjun’s solo comes to an end.

“Excellent work, Daniel,” Professor Ito beams. Addressing the other choir members, she stands proudly. “I expect all of you who are staying over the holidays to attend the Yule Ball and support Daniel’s foray into solo music.”

_ Hardly_, he thinks to himself, but smiles anyway at the thought of becoming a singer. When he rejoins his Slytherin friends, the skinny Gryffindor student goes up to sing.

“You were brilliant,” Frederick says. “Hans only ever smiles when you sing, you know.”

“Really?” Yeonjun asks, as if he isn’t acutely aware.

Ksenia leans in. “How many times has he come to practice?” she whispers to them. “If you ask me, it seems like he only comes to hear Daniel.”

“Think I’d do the same in his position, honestly,” Frederick says. “If I were sad as he is, I think I’d do anything to hear Daniel sing.”

“Stop,” Yeonjun laughs, but his throat feels tight. He dares a sneaky look at Hans, who thankfully is watching the current student presenter, but his expression is now tight and unamused— a complete reversal from his reaction to Yeonjun.

When the student finishes, Professor Ito takes center. “Lovely. I hope that one day everyone will get the chance to sing solo for a crowd. Virginia, you’ve improved.”

Virginia Bay smiles wide, her Gryffindor friends shoving her jokingly.

Ito continues: “See you at the Ball in just a couple of weeks or at the start-of-term banquet in the new year. Off you go! _ Oh! _” she exclaims, halting the departing students. “Please thank this gent for dropping in occasionally. Sir, we hope we see you next term too.”

“Thank you, sir,” the students mumble, none of them quite looking at Hans.

Ksenia slaps Yeonjun’s shoulder. “Dinner?”

“Actually, I need to talk to Ito,” Yeonjun lies. “Plus Beomgyu and I might do some Quidditch practice instead.”

Ksenia furrows her brows. “Ты в порядке?” _ Are you okay? _

Yeonjun nods, waving off Ksenia. “Yeah. See you later.”

When most of the choir members have left, Yeonjun takes a breath and approaches Hans. “Hello,” he says quietly, taking care to look him in the eye.

As Yeonjun gets nearer, the caretaker’s eyes go wide. “Hi,” he replies gruffly, leaning back like Yeonjun might hit him.

The Slytherin takes no offense though, smiling lightly. “Thank you for coming to listen,” he starts. “It’s great to practice with an audience.”

Hans shakes his head, letting out a nervous breath with a little smile. “No, no, the pleasure’s all mine,” he mumbles, fidgeting with his nails. He can’t keep Yeonjun’s gaze. “You— your voice is very nice. Much nicer than any student I’ve heard in a long time.”

Yeonjun’s heart aches for this man. Frederick was joking, but Hans is really a sad-looking man. “Thank you,” he replies sweetly. “Well I was wondering if you’ll also be coming to the Yule Ball.”

“The Yule Ball?” Hans breathes, now stunned by Yeonjun’s eyes.

The Slytherin nods. “I’m performing a _ five-minute song_.”

At “five-minute song,” Hans seems to inflate with energy, his wretched posture unfurling in bloom. “Five—” he stammers. “The one you just sang?”

Yeonjun shakes his head.

Hans’ breath catches. “Oh I _ can’t_,” he moans, dropping his face into his hands. “Oh _ no_, I can’t. Caretaker must watch the premises.”

“Oh,” Yeonjun says, looking down. “Okay.”

“But— But say you sing it for me now,” Hans pleads desperately.

Yeonjun takes a step back and shakes his head. “I’m sorry, I can’t,” he replies, frowning. “I get really nervous before I sing. I was really hoping to perform for everyone at once.”

Hans looks downright _ distraught_. He looks about wildly as if debating conjuring up a clone of himself. “Oh— no,” he frets. “No, no, no.”

_Just enough to plant the seed_.

“No worries about it, sir,” Yeonjun promises with a smile. “I have some great ideas for next term too.

“It’s a shame though. About Yule.” Yeonjun sighs quietly. “I think it’ll be my best performance.” And before he can fully grasp the look of torment on Hans’ face, he turns his back, moving for the exit.

On the way out, Ito stops him. “Daniel, you _ are _ still taking Astronomy as a sixth-year, right?”

“Yes,” Yeonjun replies. “I had good marks before, so I thought I’d keep it up.”

“And yet I _still_ haven’t had you in my section?”

Yeonjun freezes, but upon examining Ito’s expression, he decides that she seems casual enough. “Yeah, I guess not,” he replies, cocking his head like he’s not sure.

“I’ll see if I can’t snag you from Aadnevik’s section next term,” Ito declares. “It’s not right that I haven’t had you yet. You only _ have _ a few terms left.”

Yeonjun laughs. He pretends to be humbled, pretends to be friendly. “Sure,” he replies vaguely, knowing that he’s in Aadnevik’s grip from beginning to end. “I’ll see you at the dress rehearsal.”

Ito pats Yeonjun’s shoulder. “Take it easy, Daniel. Rest your voice.”

As Yeonjun hops up staircases, high-fiving and greeting friends and acquaintances left and right, he feels coolness running up his spine, the thrill of his solo forgotten. _I guess they took singing from me after all_.

His expression must look something terrible because when he approaches the announcement board, Beomgyu’s mouth opens and he rushes forward to hug Yeonjun. Yeonjun whispers, “됐어.” _ It's done_.

“So?” Beomgyu continues in Korean, pulling away. He looks straight-on at Yeonjun, searching for the consequent answer.

“Yeah,” he says. A heavy pause sits between them until Yeonjun blinks back tears. “I’m so—”

“Shhh, shhh, hyung.” Beomgyu hugs him again.

Yeonjun sinks under Beomgyu’s touch. _ I’m so sorry_. He wants to say it, but he’s too ashamed.

“Stop worrying,” Beomgyu murmurs. The resolve in his voice breaks Yeonjun’s heart. “We’re in this together now.”

Yeonjun shakes his head. “I don't know how you can find the book without looking beforehand."

Beomgyu pulls back and wipes baby tears from Yeonjun's eyes. “You’ll be singing long enough. I’ll bet Hans gets there early so he doesn’t miss anything. All I have to do is find the right section and then _ Accio _ for the right volume. Easy enough.”

“What about Kai?" Yeonjun wonders. "I can’t _Obliviate_ him if I don’t know what he knows, but I can’t let him run around anymore.”

Beomgyu pauses thoughtfully. “I’ll take care of it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell at me: [carrd](https://godtyun.carrd.co/).  
weekly updates!
> 
> i'd love to hear y'all's character rankings! one of my beta-readers put wobo gobo tied with huening at #1 and the other put hans at #2 below beomgyu.
> 
> [incidental wobo gobo fanart](https://twitter.com/iwilldie4soobin/status/1272965858399105024).  
[a wobo-esque tweet that two readers separately sent to me](https://twitter.com/bubbletxtea/status/1272988023437787136).  



	24. What do you do?

Thursday. 

Around Soobin, students mill about in decorative holiday accessories. He himself has an elastic red reindeer nose he’s been wearing to his classes this week, but now it hangs from his neck lazily as he leans on a railing overlooking a five-story atrium. In front of him, he stares at his Astronomy textbook, his eyes scanning desperately over the same section to cram the information into his thick head.

He takes the last bite of his roll from breakfast, chewing robotically.

So lulled into revision mode is he that he doesn’t notice when a certain Hufflepuff boy appears tentatively from the side. “Hyung!”

Soobin jumps, choking on the bread. He barely has the sense to save his textbook from falling over the edge of the railing.

“Hyung!” cries Kai.

Soobin waves him away, coughing violently into his elbow. 

But Kai scrambles to take out his wand and points desperately. “_Aerare!_”

Like a spitball, the wet bread chunk shoots out of Soobin’s mouth, going _ splat _ on the ground. 

Just then, Hans, the Caretaker of Hogwarts, walks by, giving the boys a deadpan look.

Soobin hardly needs his reindeer nose; his face goes red. “S— sorry,” he sputters, avoiding Hans’ infinitely sad eyes. He grabs Kai’s wrist. “Sorry. I’m sorry!” And then he runs. 

While running, he hears Kai calling, “No, oh no, I’m sorry,” to Hans, but it’s too late. They turn a few corners in the corridors, Soobin feeling his heart pounding in his throat. And then, inexplicably, he begins to laugh. When they finally slow down at an empty corridor intersection he throws his head back, cackling stupidly.

“Why are you laughing?” Kai accuses, but he too is now laughing. “Hyung!”

Soobin shakes his head, working through the burning laughter. “No, no!” he refutes, tears blurring his vision. “I was just so surprised that I laughed! It’s so sick, I know!”

Kai laughs again, putting his hand on one hip. “Hans has a hard enough time!”

“I know!” Soobin sobs, and then he loses it. The absurdity of the situation hits him again and he keels over in laughter, falling onto the floor. He can’t remember the last time he laughed so hard from something so silly.

And it seems like it’s too much for Kai, too. The third-year loses it too and flings himself against a wall, crying from laughter. “NO! NO!” he yells, as if willing himself to stop laughing. He takes staggering breaths and turns away from Soobin, clutching the corner of the corridor wall steadily.

Soobin takes a shaky breath mid-sob. “And then—!” But he can’t finish his thought and he screws his eyes tight, laughing. “I’M CRYING!”

A cheery old Londoner voice chimes in, “I see that.”

Soobin’s laughter is extinguished to ashes as he scrambles to his feet, picking up his things as he faces Headmaster Francoise Slorians. Kai has already stood up straight, his head slightly bowed even as he leans back.

Headmaster Slorians is a very tall, round, middle-aged man, his skin reddish-brown and his hair coily and streaked with grey. Students secretly call him Headmaster Santa for his cheery disposition, but Soobin thinks that Slorians probably wouldn't mind the nickname. (Especially since Slorians is literally wearing a Santa hat.) The man gives a great warm chuckle, rubbing his hands together. “Oh no, please don’t. I love to see students laugh, but, uh…” He pauses. “Could I… borrow one of you? I need help moving an anti-magic dresser.”

Soobin and Kai look at each other. Soobin has only had one conversation with Headmaster Slorians in his Hogwarts career and, based on his experience, he’d rather not reinvest. He got a minor academic award in his first year and attended a small dinner hosted by Slorians, who talked everyone’s ear off for_ four hours _ about how things were back in the good old days. He had never felt his social battery drain to empty before that point and slept through his first class the following day, earning him his first-ever detention.

But Kai isn’t looking at Soobin like Soobin feels. No, Kai looks wild-eyed. Unaware. “S—” Kai clears his throat. “Sir, I can—”

“I-I can, I can too, no worries,” Soobin interrupts, guilt suddenly forcing him to make an offer. 

Slorians looks between them. “Oh. Well. Just one of you will do.”

Both boys hesitate. Soobin clears his throat. “Um. I do actually need to see Professor Aadnevik but I could—”

“Oh well don’t _ dream _ of it then!” Slorians sings, shooting Soobin a stern, paternal look. He then nods at Kai. “I’ll take… um…”

“Uh, Kai Huening,” Kai offers, suddenly looking very small against Slorians’ great big personality.

“Mr. Huening,” Slorians repeats, then clears his throat. “Very sorry to stop the fun. That’s not normally my _moda operandi_—”

“No, no, it’s not a problem, sir, I don’t—” Kai interrupts, then stops short himself. He suddenly turns to Soobin. “_Aadnevik?_”

“Uh. Yeah.”

Kai misses a beat. Then: “언제 시간이 나시나요?” _ When are you free? _

“난 몰라.” _ I dunno_.

“_Very _ cool. Very cool,” Slorians comments, smiling at the two. When they don’t give a reaction, he claps his hands together. “Well!” And then he turns tail, making his way back down the corridor.

Soobin waves Kai off. _Go_, he mouths.

Kai briefly hesitates, opening his mouth like he wants to say something. Soobin waits patiently for anything, but Kai finally looks away and follows after Slorians.

Soobin takes a deep breath, wiping leftover tears from his eyes. _ Oh God, the _ Headmaster _ saw me laughing on the floor. This is the worst_.

“HYUNG!” 

He jumps for a second time, refraining from cursing at wide-eyed Kai. “What?” he asks, but Kai is already mid-sentence.

“...careful around Aadnevik, okay?”

Soobin blinks at him. “What?”

“Just.” Kai looks back at Slorians’ retreating figure, biting his lip hard. “Just believe me, okay? Please—”

“What are you— okay, fine, go!” Soobin insists. _Why is Kai scared of Aadnevik? Is she in a bad mood or something?_

“Please? Please?”

“Why? What are you talking about?” laughs Soobin. He’s been perfectly cycling between Ito's and Aadnevik’s Astronomy classes for each term since his first year. He _ knows _ Aadnevik. She’s just… Aadnevik. 

“I can’t—” Kai stares at Soobin, open-mouthed and chest heaving. “I can’t explain it.” Then, with a groan of frustration, he starts walking away, but stops every half-second to glance back at Soobin like he might suddenly disappear. “I’ll just— I’ll explain tomorrow. Just for now, be careful, and also—”

_ Maybe he should still be in the Hospital Wing, _ Soobin worries. _ He’s getting himself too worked up. _

Cute Kai jumps forward and envelops Soobin in a hug. Soobin jolts in surprise, but doesn’t fight it. Doesn’t even understand what’s happening. “Kai…”

And with a last squeeze, Kai tears away, running toward Headmaster Slorians who has already turned a corner.

Soobin watches after him, not quite dazed but not quite lucid either. It’s as if… It’s as if Kai can see something that he can’t. That doesn’t sit right with him. But there’s no more to think of. He’ll see Kai at breakfast tomorrow before his Flying lesson with Professor Nott and that’ll be that.

After fastening his glossy reindeer nose back on, Soobin jogs to Aadnevik’s classroom. He really _does_ have to talk to her. He’s hoping that she can overlook some of his late assignments if he can recite Neil deGrasse Tyson quotes from memory. She likes that sort of thing.

“Looking more closely at Earth’s atmospheric fingerprints, human biomarkers will also include sulfuric, carbonic, and nitric acids,” Soobin hums, swinging around the last corner.

Before him, Yeonjun is leaning back against the wall next to the door, his eyes closed.

Soobin freezes. 

Two things happen. First, his breath goes absolutely still. Second, he notices Yeonjun’s antlers, which are no more than round nubs sticking out from his thick, black hair.

Soobin wonders if it’s true that you can tell when someone is burning a hole through you, because Yeonjun’s eyes suddenly open, falling right on Soobin.

A terrible, thick pause hangs between them. Soobin can’t run. This is his last chance to talk to Aadnevik before the grading period ends. He has to stay.

Yeonjun must resolve something too, because he looks away, staying right where he is.

Soobin tries not to think about how cute Yeonjun’s cheeks are in his natural pout. Instead, he carefully places himself on the other side of the door, waiting patiently. 

An even longer, more terrible pause ensues. Soobin feels like he’s drowning in humidity, but students pass them here and there without a care. 

_ What do I do. _ “Um.” _ Oh FUCK I DIDN’T MEAN TO SAY IT OUT LOUD! _ Soobin closes his eyes, slapping himself mentally. _Idiot. Idiot. Idiot._

But Yeonjun doesn’t respond, lulling Soobin into a false sense of relief until all of 30 seconds later. “Hm?” sounds Yeonjun.

“Wh-What?” replies Soobin, now mentally punching himself for stuttering. He told himself he wasn’t going to do the timid thing anymore, but here he is, tripping over his words.

Yeonjun sighs. “You said ‘um.’”

_He’s acknowledging me._ Soobin nods at the door. “Are there students in there?”

Yeonjun nods.

Soobin nods in turn.

“... take Astronomy ne—”

Soobin, who was zoning out, quickly interrupts: “What?” He finally looks at Yeonjun, who is giving him a blank look. “Sorry, what? Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

And then the most incredible thing happens. Yeonjun laughs. His pout melts and his eyes turn into little crescents as he chortles. “Wow, have we ever had a real conversation with each other?” 

It should probably be condescending, but Soobin can actually tell that it’s a light joke. With it, Yeonjun has cracked the ice from their many tense encounters. So Soobin laughs too, the little knot inside of his chest lessening. “Maybe it’s the language barrier,” he suggests dryly.

Yeonjun shrugs, the smile remaining in his eyes even as his lips fall back to neutral. “Maybe,” he agrees.

Soobin smiles. “You said something about Astronomy?” he says, feeling a little more at ease.

“Are. you. going. to. take. it. next. year?”

“Uh…” It’s a rather surprising question for Soobin. He hasn’t considered what he’ll take next year. Sixth years are no longer bound to core subject; if Soobin elects to ditch Astronomy, it means no more Neil deGrasse Tyson quotes for Professor Aadnevik and no more obscure toad facts for Professor Ito, who also conducts for the Frog Choir. The thought of it makes Soobin a little sad. “I haven’t really thought about it yet,” he says honestly, staring off.

“Advice: don’t.”

Soobin looks back at Yeonjun, whose eyes are now cast downward. He looks sad. So unlike himself. Soobin wants to ask him what’s wrong, but he can’t. He remembers Beomgyu crying in the Gryffindor boys’ dorm— remembers feeling like he didn’t know anything about Yeonjun. He still doesn’t know anything about Yeonjun, but he _does_ know what’s happened between just the two of them. He knows that Yeonjun… Yeonjun said… “You said you wanted nothing to do with me.” And wow, does that feel brave and scary to say.

Yeonjun huffs and looks at Soobin, his eyes still sour. “Read between the lines, Soobin, I was really fucking mad at you.”

_ I know. _

“I am _ still _ mad at you.”

Soobin nods, afraid of what might happen if he says something reckless. But this is… kind of going well, right?

“And don’t be nice,” adds Yeonjun, quietly, after a beat. “I know you’re mad at me too.”

“I’m sorry.” Soobin regrets it as soon as he says it, but it comes out like a reflex.

“You’re sorry,” repeats Yeonjun, even softer.

“No, I—” Soobin turns fully to face him. “I’m working on a… a better apology. That’s not it. Not yet.”

Yeonjun quirks a brow, considering him. “Okay.”

“Okay.” And yeah, Soobin has been slowly putting an apology together since their fight, but now that he’s said it aloud, it feels like a Big Thing™.

Yeonjun bores his eyes into Soobin. “None of that ‘if I hurt you’ bullshit. And I want it notarized.” Again, it’s a joke on Yeonjun’s part. They stand silent for a beat before he continues, suddenly. “You have to apologize to Slytherin, too.”

“What?” shouts Soobin incredulously. Never has he felt more Gryffindor than in this moment when his pride is being called onto trial against Slytherin. “But that—!”

“No, no, no, you said snakes are spineless. That’s an attack on my House. Slytherin is included.”

Soobin bristles, but he knows what Yeonjun is talking about. “Okay,” he finally agrees. After a beat: “Anything else?”

“Hold on,” says Yeonjun, staring at nothing. “Ah. Apologize for comparing me to Kai.”

Soobin gives him a blank look. Now he’s lost.

Yeonjun glares at him, but it's softened by his pout. “You said I was a coward compared to him.”

“Oh,” Soobin mumbles. “Wait, you nearly killed him at Duelement.”

“I know, I know,” shoos Yeonjun. “I’m also working on an apology.”

Soobin examines Yeonjun. His heart is doing little flips at this progress, but he’s more cautious than that. “Okay,” he says, because he’s curious about what Yeonjun has to apologize for.

“Okay,” echoes Yeonjun, who stands up straight and dusts off his robe. “Go in.”

Soobin stays where he is, looking between Yeonjun and the door.

The corners of Yeonjun's mouth lift. “I was just resting. No one’s in there besides Aadnevik.” He pouts and makes a kissing noise at Soobin. Then he strides away, looking grumpy again.

15-year-old Soobin would have frozen in bewilderment. But 16-year-old Soobin just laughs.

* * *

“Just up here!” Headmaster Slorians chirps, leading Kai up to a large dresser on the far side of the room. “We need to get it across to the— you see it?”

Oh, Kai sees it. He tries not to ogle the Headmaster’s office setup as he follows, but it’s difficult not to look at everything. He sidesteps in time to avoid a few large, round rocks that bounce across the wooden floorboards. Little faces are drawn on them in neon marker. “Pet rocks?” he asks.

“_Real _ pet rocks,” corrects Slorians, who watches him from one end of a magnificent cherry wood dresser that is probably older than Kai’s grandparents. “Ahem.”

“Ah.” Kai scuttles to the opposite end of the dresser, holding on tight.

“Okay. Okay, on the side, yep, underhand.” Beads of sweat are already forming on Headmaster Slorians’ large forehead. The sunlight catches it just so and Kai winces away to avoid being blinded.

Together, they lift the dresser, both Slorians and Kai groaning while side-stepping carefully across the office. Kai can feel himself making awful faces, but there’s no way that they’re any worse than Slorians’. “Is this empty?” chokes Kai, his arms clenching.

“Quite so,” whines Slorians. “OH! BREAK!” Without any warning, he drops his side of the dresser, nearly sending Kai falling. The ornate legs puncture straight through the floorboard, producing an awful crunching sound.

With a little more delicacy, Kai bends, setting down his end with a huff. He stares at the floor damage. “Uh—”

“No worries!” huffs Slorians. “Mr…”

“Huening, sir.”

Slorians nods. “Sorry—”

“Don’t worry about it, sir,” insists Kai, wishing to be finished yesterday.

Slorians smiles despite his appearance. “Let’s have another go at it, shall we?” They grip the dresser once more. “Okay, and—!”

Kai and Slorians make haste this time, positively jogging the rest of the way and vocalizing uncomfortably.

“HERE!” barks Slorians.

They drop the dresser at once. All of the legs puncture the floorboards in one awful crash. 

Slorians falls into a nearby armchair, but Kai leans onto the dresser instead, wondering if this is how Muggles get along without magic when moving furniture. It seems very inconvenient and itchy. “Can I… Can I ask, sir?” he asks, wiping his forehead.

Slorians dabs a handkerchief to his face. “Certainly,” he breathes.

“What do you normally keep in this dresser?”

“Student files.”

Kai’s mouth falls open in a silent “ah.” Of course. Student files are confidential; they _ would _ be protected by anti-magic.

“Go on, sit down,” encourages Slorians. As soon as Kai sits down on an old maroon loveseat, Slorians wandlessly transforms a nearby coaster into a goblet. “What sort of drink do you like? I’d offer you a beer, but the Minister for Magic himself would be knocking at my door before I could say ‘Mr. Huening.’”

Kai sits up, feeling a little caught. “Kai is fine,” he tries.

“If it’s all the same to you, I prefer using students’ surnames while you’re still at school. Except those ‘Choy Boys’— first name necessary or I’ll keep confusing them.”

_ Choy…? Oh, Choi! _ “Um.”

“What is it?” asks Slorians, serving himself goblet of something steamy.

“It’s. Um. It’s pronounced like… ‘Cheh.’” Slorians gives him a blank look. “Like ‘Czech.’ ‘Cheh.’”

“Oh,” sounds Slorian, who sits back with a thoughtful look. “Well that’s _ much _ better than ‘Choy.’”

Kai nods in agreement.

“But you’re…” Slorians nods at Kai, scrunching up his eyebrows like Kai is supposed to know what he’s talking about.

“Huh?” asks Kai openly.

“You’re not…” Slorians cocks his head, giving a similar scrunched up look, now with a twitching eye.

Kai’s weird radar goes off. “Uh… what, sir?”

Slorians sighs, releasing the tension in his face. “Korean.”

“Oh.” Oh indeed. Kai looks off. “Uh… kind of. I… I have citizenship, but Koreans wouldn't say I'm Korean.”

“Oh,” replies Slorians. “But where did you grow up?”

“It’s… um… China and— uh. South Korea.”

But now Slorians is sitting up with great interest. “You speak any Mandarin?”

Kai shakes his head. “Uh, not anymore. I’ve sort of forgotten.”

“Oh.” Slorians sits back, taking another sip. “I’ve been looking for some practice. I’m conversational, you know. Worked in Shanghai on assignment for three years back in the 90s. Obviously returned for the war. And now here I am, once again!” He says it with great fanfare, but his sip of drink is rather muted.

Wanting to offer something concrete, Kai helpfully says, “I, uh, visited Shanghai a few times when I was little.”

“Really!” exclaims Slorians, who seems even more animated now.

Kai nods. “My Chinese nickname was _laoshu_.”

“Well that’s a wonderful nickname!” beams Slorians. “You do look a bit like a mouse, if I may say.” He stops himself. “Is that insensitive?” he asks seriously.

“No, no,” says Kai, feeling a little drained by Slorians' energy.

“Sorry that I’m not very worldly. I’m afraid I’m sort of an old man. But _you_ kids will bring the world together.” Slorians maintains his great smile at Kai, and it suddenly occurs to the third-year that this is his chance to ask questions.

“Sir.”

“Mr. Huening.”

“Um.” Kai takes a breath. “I actually was going to come to you about something.” _Oh boy, Taehyun’s gonna be so mad that I did this without him._

Slorians nods. “Well, ask away. I won’t be here tomorrow.”

“You won’t?” exclaims Kai surprisedly. 

“No. I’m actually traveling to London today. Rather boring business. I’ll be away till Monday.”

So then this is Kai’s only chance! Taehyun will have to forgive him. “Well then— um, sir, I’d really like to know. In 1986, there was a student named Hongnak Choi.”

A pause. “Cheh,” says Slorians. It’s a question.

“Cheh,” confirms Kai. “Well, he wrote a… project? A _ thesis _ with Professor Aadnevik.”

“Well, well, well,” says Slorians, sinking into the armchair with a quizzical look. “You’re the second person this week to ask me. To be fair to suitor number-one, though, I can’t imagine that you have more of a right to it than he did.”

Slorians’ confusing way of speaking has Kai’s brain churning. “Uh… who?”

“_‘Who_,’” echoes Slorians. “You know _ who_. Hongnak’s mini-me came in here a week ago to sweet-talk me into telling him where he could find that thesis.”

_ Yeonjun_. Kai’s eyes go wide. _ So he’s looking for his dad’s thesis_.

Slorians continues: “That boy is very charming, I admit. Even more handsome than Hongnak, though in my opinion Hongnak had a more roguish look. He was very popular, among _ all _ of the Houses. Probably the Hufflepuff thing. You understand, of course. The friendliness, very amiable. My God, I never saw more students cry in a day than on Valentine’s Day when he rejected the whole lot.”

Kai is not very interested in Choi Hongnak’s romantic pursuits. “Sir.”

“Yes.”

“The thesis, sir?”

“Ah. Yes.” Slorians collects his train of thought while taking another swig of his drink. “Yes, well, I’ll tell you what I told Daniel. It’s not very interesting, I’m afraid.”

“I’d like to know.”

“Alright,” sighs Slorians, his eyebrows screwing together in thought. “It was called…” He takes a pause. “_Hang the Stars and Take Them Down: _ A Humble… no, _ A Wizard’s Humble Guide to Creating and Destroying Worlds. Complete With Spells!_” He adds quickly, “That’s important too, see. The spells complete it.”

Kai's mouth falls open. A seventh-year _ Hufflepuff _ wrote a thesis about _ creating and destroying worlds? _ He immediately wants to summon the spirit of Helga Hufflepuff and interrogate her about how _that _ happened. His mind is spinning. “Well… where is it?” he asks softly.

Slorians chortles. “Restricted Section of the Hogwarts Library, of course. That’s pretty juicy stuff. Can’t just let it air out where any old fool can start their own Whoville, you understand? Nightmare with Ethics laws. But of course…” he trails off and stands up, carrying Kai’s attention like a magnet.

The Headmaster takes out his wand and swishes at Kai’s goblet, which fills with a purple-ish liquid. He nods at Kai, who takes a polite sip. Grape juice.

Slorians smiles, tucking his wand into his belt as he hobbles over to his very large, very messy desk. “...someone like Daniel Choi can easily charm a note out of a professor to get into the Restricted Section. So. Why hasn’t he found that thesis?”

It sounds like a rhetorical question, but Kai has no idea about the answer. It’s true: Yeonjun could charm the socks off of anyone. There’s no stopping him from getting into the Restricted Section as long as he bats his eyelashes. Kai shrugs helplessly at Slorians.

The Headmaster sits in a chair that is just a bit too small for him, but he looks more like a Headmaster right now than Kai has seen in his two-and-a-half years at Hogwarts. “Theses by 17-year-old wizards don’t get published as books, not even if it’s Hongnak Choi. Though he was a remarkable Seeker. _ That _ he could have had books published about. Did, actually, though they sort of went out of style once Harry Potter came through. But I digress.

“Like 99.99% of underaged wizards’ theses,” continues Slorians, distractedly floating his abandoned goblet to his desk, “Hongnak’s project went into a journal. A journal with _ plenty _ of other students’ theses.”

_So it’s hidden_. Kai hardly remembers his grape juice. “But… the volume isn’t…”

“Unmarked?” guesses Slorians.

Kai nods, hardly daring to breathe.

Slorians takes a sip. “I couldn’t say. The only time I saw that thesis was when it was on loose parchment. When he defended it to me. I was always sort of the grand overseer of those theses, you see. I’ve always had the most published research of the faculty.” 

He leans forward, smiling devilishly at Kai. “But here’s the funny part: I told Hongnak not to share the spells portion with Professor Aadnevik. I made her leave the room before I would even look at the thesis. And let me tell you: Hongnak Choi? _ Truly _ brilliant wizard.” He shakes his head with a knowing smile. “To be frank, I’m quite disappointed that he’s working with Muggles now, but it’s for a worthier purpose than anything he could do at the Ministry.”

The nosy part of Kai wants to know what Yeonjun’s dad does. Is he in Korea? Who did he marry? Where did they settle? What kind of job is it? The questions pass through Kai at lightning speed, flitting around like little annoying flies. No thanks, he tells them, trained on Slorians. “So the spells…”

“_A Wizard’s Humble Guide to Creating and Destroying Worlds._” As he says it, Slorians drinks in the title. Kai silently admits that it is very lavish. “Lots of dark wizards would like to get their hands on it. Especially since it was approved by yours truly.”

Kai swallows. “And you’re the only one that saw the spells?”

Slorians nods. “Professor Aadnevik went real sour on me for that one. She wouldn’t speak to me for about five years."

“Years?” coughs Kai.

“Honestly went by rather quickly. Now,” starts Slorians, putting down his goblet. “Why do _ you _ want to know about the thesis, Mr. Huening?”

Kai’s mouth goes dry. What should he say? “Um.” But he blanches.

Before the pause can get too agonizing, Slorians gasps dramatically. “I’ve forgotten about my Muggle coffee!” He sits up with a polite nod to Kai. “Thank you, Mr. Huening, for helping me move my _ furniture_.”

_ Is he… giving me an out? _ “No problem, sir,” replies Kai, playing along. “And have a good weekend.”

Slorians winks, then turns to his Muggle coffee machine, which whirrs angrily as he swivels to it. “Now, as for _you—!_”

Kai takes one long, smooth drink of grape juice, then goes on his way. Aadnevik may have overseen Hongnak's research, but she never saw the spells. Kai shivers. So Aadnevik wants Yeonjun to find the spells for her. But all of it is well-hidden, and if Yeonjun hasn't found it, then Kai probably wouldn't be able to find it, either. So what is Yeonjun's plan now?

_What should _I _do now?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell at me: [carrd](https://godtyun.carrd.co/).  
weekly updates!
> 
> my friend mags just debuted her txt hunger games au called [please stop this nightmare i have every night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24797515/chapters/59969755)! it's got taegyu, it's got yeonbin, it's got DRAMA. go give it a read!


	25. 秀彬: daylight

Soobin comes to, standing naked and chest-deep in a dark, placid lake. Around him, he can feel the water draping him, cold as ice, not a single ripple forming even as he moves about. He sees rocks lining the lake at the edge of his vision, but somehow he knows that he isn’t supposed to leave. “Hello?” he calls.

_ Clueless_. The silent voice seems to come from the stars above him. Soobin looks up, fear seizing his body. Above him, thousands and thousands of stars shine. More stars than he’s ever seen in his life. They continue to whisper. _ You’re useless to everyone, Soobin. A total waste._

Tears well up in Soobin’s eyes. He shakes his head minutely, feeling microscopic under the power of the sky. “I’m not,” he defies, his voice small.

_ Look at your friends_. Soobin looks back down. A boy stands before him at the edge of the lake dressed in a pastel green _hanbok _with his face veiled in black gauzy fabric. Soobin is too frightened to even jump. He just stands there, his spine icing over with terror. 

He can feel others looking at him. To his left, another boy dressed in a white t-shirt and white shorts stares at him while standing calf-deep in the water. His vaguely Asian features strike Soobin as familiar, but he can’t remember his name. The boy calls something out, but his voice is non-existent.

Soobin looks to his right. Standing on a tall, overhanging rock is a pair of handsome boys, both dressed in sweeping black robes, one in a navy blue tie, the other in green. They’re holding hands. Soobin cannot remember who they are, though he is sure that he once knew them very well.

_ And her_, says the stars.

“Soobin-ah,” comes a girl’s voice.

Tears spill onto Soobin’s cheeks as he finally looks behind him. There, on her hands and knees and dressed in a padded coat, winter boots, and a thick orange scarf, is Soobin’s older sister. Choi Eunha, pink-faced and prettier than all of the stars in the sky, beams at her little brother, holding out her hand. “Soobin-ah, you went too far. It's time to come back.”

But he can’t go back. He doesn’t know why, but he needs to stay here. His heart is pounding in terror and his sister looks so warm and comforting, but Soobin has come too far. “I can’t,” he says, though he can’t say why.

Eunha frowns at him. _ But you’re worthless there_, she seethes in the voice of the stars. _ You’re not a Gryffindor. _

“Yes, I am,” says Soobin.

The dark lake begins to brighten, and Soobin realizes that it's because the thousands of stars are brightening. From the sky, the voice hisses at him with even more venom: _No, you’re not. You were an accident_. _You are powerless and you will watch your friends rot_.

The light becomes so dazzling, so blinding, that Soobin has to cover his eyes, screaming “I _ am _ a Gryffindor!” But no sound comes from his throat. They’ve taken away his voice. Just as the water starts to bubble around him—

Soobin’s eyes snap open upon feeling the jolt of a waking charm.

“If you go back to sleep, I will puncture your throat with my wand,” calls Yuuto from his own bed, setting his wand down on his bedside table. “It’s Friday, December 12th.”

Upon hearing “Friday,” Soobin scrambles from his bed, throwing open cupboards and dressing frantically. _ Professor Nott is expecting me at noon! I should’ve set ten alarms! _

He is so shaken by nearly oversleeping for his appointment with Nott that his dream becomes fuzzier with each passing second as he gets dressed and gathers his things. The images and sounds that he’s sure were very frightening seem to fade from his mind until he can’t remember anything but a lake. 

Just as he’s about to ask for the time— 

“11:30,” adds Yuuto, sounding as if he’s drifting off to sleep. And he must, as he ceases to react anymore to Soobin scuffling about the room. On some days, he even adds a fake weather forecast for Soobin, but evidently he is too tired to do so today. Their other roommates, a few more fifth-year Gryffindor boys, stay put in bed, all accustomed to this loud morning routine.

By the time Soobin makes it to the Great Hall for a quick breakfast, it’s 11:45. He pants, scanning the half-filled dining tables. It’s the last day of exams, so the pace of activity has finally slowed down, as only a couple of professors have set exams for Friday.

_ Oh, I was supposed to meet Kai_, Soobin suddenly remembers. But he doesn’t see Kai anywhere in the hall, so he instead approaches the Gryffindor quadrant, waving a few half-hearted “hellos” to a group of first-years whom he doesn’t know.

He’s halfway through a warm poppy seed hamantaschen when a hand touches his shoulder. “Soobin-hyung,” greets a panting Taehyun, his mouth ajar with little breaths.

Soobin examines him. “What’s up?” he replies in Korean, glancing at his watch and continuing to fill up on hamantaschen.

“Have you seen Kai?”

Soobin shakes his head.

“I can’t believe this,” snorts Taehyun. “I waited 30 minutes at the notice board. I already checked Slorians’ office and the Hufflepuff boys’ dormitory—”

“You’re really not supposed to go in there,” interrupts Soobin.

“—so he must have forgotten an exam or stayed behind or something.”

Soobin shakes his head again, looking around as if Kai might Apparate into the Great Hall. Soobin wouldn’t put it past him. Kai may only be a third-year, but he has more magical wit than some seventh-years. “No, he finished yesterday, same as me.” Then, curiously: “Why would you check Slorians’ office?”

“Well that’s where we were supposed to—!” But Taehyun stops short, like he suddenly remembers that it’s something he’s not allowed to say. “Never mind. I’ll look around again.” He snags Soobin’s pastry from his mouth and takes a bite.

“Hey—!”

But Taehyun is already halfway across the room, nearly running into Choi Yeonjun on his way out. Soobin watches the exchange. Taehyun clearly must ask Yeonjun about Kai’s whereabouts too, because as soon as Yeonjun shakes his head, Taehyun marches away.

Yeonjun groggily sits down with his Slytherin friends, Jonas Mogen patting his back idly. Soobin looks for the bleached-blonde hair that belongs to Beomgyu, Yeonjun’s bestest friend, but there’s no sign of him.

_ What would Kai be doing at Slorians’ office? _ wonders Soobin again.

When he shows up to the lawn by the Forbidden Forest at 11:55, Soobin has put Taehyun, Kai, and his faded dream behind him. He instead faces Professor Nott, who is sitting on a picnic quilt to repel the cold from the frosted grass. She is bundled up in a tall witch’s hat and a long, burgundy scarf that matches her festive robes. “Is there anything in particular bothering you about your flying?” she asks, indicating for Soobin to drop his things on her quilt.

He obeys, wondering where to start. “It’s just that— when I look at the other Gryffindors,” he stutters, “and Quidditch players, it feels like— it feels like I’m not doing it right. Like I see all of these really talented, skilled students and I’m just… I’m just not as good. I’m not as slick or as light or as good at seeing.” And it frustrates him, not being able to say what he really means. Nott is the one who graciously offered this session to him, but his heart is pounding and he can’t even come up with a good starting point.

Still, it doesn’t seem bother Nott. “Why don’t you just warm up then, for about a half-hour? I’ve got some reports to work on, so just take your time and we can get started then.”

Soobin nods, his breath dropping in at this instruction. Warming up he can do. He takes his broomstick in hand: a 90’s model he inherited from his brother from his time at Mahoutokoro, the wizarding school in Japan. Soobin fondly remembers entering his first year at Hogwarts with this broom. Back when he was the best in the class, the other kids moaned and groaned to the now-retired Flying professor about how “of course Soobin is the best, he’s got a _ Japanese broom!_” Little did they know that it was a 15-year-old broom that his brother said would be considered _ garbage _ at Mahoutokoro now. But Soobin didn’t say that. All he did was shrug. He was just happy to be any good.

And just like it did four years ago, the broom obeys Soobin’s every intention intimately. He flies about, soaring near the Forest and around the edges of the lawn. He has no thoughts of pretty boys, poorly-done exams, or the country he left behind. No thoughts of sisters, brothers, or parents. No languages, no anxieties, no dreams. 

Just the wind.

He grins, his grip slightly loosening on his broom as he dips and turns, accelerating and focusing single-mindedly on his desire to shoot up to the sky. He gets close to the ground, taking one more loop before glaring at the Sun’s outline behind thick clouds. _ There_. He flies directly up, his stomach lurching at the abrupt angle, his broom twitching with the effort of flying at 90 degrees. He hasn’t tried doing this in about three years, but it feels good. It feels familiar and glorious.

Until it doesn’t. He suddenly takes a shaky breath, realizing that he wasn’t breathing, and his broom lurches to the right, probably sensing his uneasiness. Far from expecting this sudden movement, Soobin yelps, falling sideways from the broom. He clutches the handle with both hands, closing his eyes as panic sets in. Luckily, his broom remains still, allowing him to problem-solve.

_ Relax_. He remembers how he was able to fly with Yeonjun, his heart light and his cheeks sore from smiling. 

With a deep breath, Soobin opens his eyes and looks out at the castle. In two swinging motions, he hoists himself back onto his broom, taking a couple more loops to steady his heart before landing in front of Professor Nott. “Okay,” he says, his voice a bit faint but mostly stable. A bead of sweat rolls down his temple.

“So how did it go?” asks Nott, looking up from her papers. Her expression is rather thoughtful and a bit mysterious.

Soobin immediately speaks, his shortcomings now available to him: “I can’t get up high like I want. My calluses are misplaced because I had a bad grip going for a few years, so I think that was holding me back. Not to mention I’m way too big. I can feel myself weighing down the broom and I’ve been trying to lose weight, but it’s just… not...”

As Soobin speaks, Professor Nott surveys him, twirling her quill idly. When he finishes, she takes a moment, a strange sort of pause hanging between them. “Really,” she says, with an expression akin to disappointment or confusion; Soobin isn’t sure.

He’s not sure what he can say to that. “Well, yeah,” he replies, a bit quieter. “I’m heavy, so I’m slow. And my calluses are…” But he trails off at Professor Nott staring at him so directly that the voices in his head come to a complete standstill. Until it’s just him, panting, looking at Professor Bulah Nott, twirling her quill.

“Mr. Choi, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” murmurs Nott. “What are you talking about?”

Soobin’s mouth hangs open.

“If anything, you're actually too _ fast_,” she clarifies. “You could stand to slow down a lot more.” 

He wants to say "no," but his voice won’t come. Too fast? How could he be too_ fast?_ He felt so… heavy. Soobin looks down at his free hand. Large, long fingers greet him, the same as they’ve always been. _ Fast? Too fast? _

“Do you understand, Soobin?” asks Nott, gently.

“Uh. Yeah,” murmurs Soobin, a little shocked. Bulah Nott is telling him that he’s too fast.

“Your flying is good. Very good,” adds Nott. “You’re telling me that you’re jealous of the other students?”

Soobin nods, still floored.

Nott just shakes her head. “Don’t be.”

_ No way… No way… _ “I…”

“Have you tried out for the Quidditch team?” asks Nott, suddenly.

Soobin’s stomach ties in knots. He’s surprised he doesn’t just fall to his knees. Of course he’s never tried out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team; it’s so competitive that trying out would be suicide for his remaining confidence. “Huh?” It’s all he can say, but Professor Nott just smiles.

“Tell Virginia Bay that you want to try out next year. If they don’t take you, let’s talk again. We’re going to find something for you.”

_ “We.” _ Soobin’s heart thrums in his throat. Professor Nott, the famed Professor Nott, head of Gryffindor house, believes in _ him_. Believes in him enough to want to help him— believes that Soobin could make the _ Quidditch _ team even though he’d be a sixth-year. What position should he consider? Has he ever had a conversation with Virginia Bay, the captain? His mind swirls with questions that he has never even dreamed of considering. “Okay. Okay, I will.”

Professor Nott collects her things, her picnic quilt dutifully folding itself and laying onto her arm. “Have a good holiday, Mr. Choi.” She glances back at him. “Are you going home for Christmas?”

He shakes his head.

“Yule Ball, then,” she beams. “I’ll see you there.”

“See you there, Professor.” 

When Nott is out of sight, Soobin stands in place with his broom in hand, his fingers tingling with want. A sudden deep breath pours out of him, and the desire to fly overcomes him, so he flies. He flies around, even higher and more comfortably than before. 

His calluses are exactly what they’re supposed to be. His weight is exactly what it’s supposed to be. He looks down at his fingers curled around the aged wood and sees long, strong instruments of sport. The thought of Quidditch tryouts doesn’t seem scary. It seems exactly like something he could do. He feels like he could be enough. Like he _is_ enough.

_ You’re not a Gryffindor_, something whispers.

_Yes I fucking am._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/godtyun) or [cc](https://curiouscat.me/godtyun)!  
weekly updates!
> 
> my friend tessa just debuted her taegyu au called [everyone who loves you goes to heaven](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24970396/chapters/60449122)! in it, beomgyu is a very sad actor who is even very-er determined to win back his ex, taehyun! if you love taegyu + yeonbin + eloquent narration, you've got to read it.


	26. Mousetrap

24 hours ago...

Headmaster Slorians confronts his coffee machine and Kai walks out, having just learned about Hongnak Choi’s thesis.

_ What should I do now? _

He should tell Taehyun. Or should he tell Soobin? Should he go back into Slorians’ office and tell the Headmaster that he thinks Yeonjun is trying to steal the thesis? But Slorians clearly _ knows _ and he isn’t doing anything about it. So why should Kai rush into anything? _ But am I just supposed to do nothing and wait it out? _ Somehow, that doesn’t feel right, either.

“KAI!” someone screams. 

Kai nearly jumps out of his skin but is instantly relieved when he sees one of his Hufflepuff friends running toward him. “Oh my God, I nearly died of fright,” he complains, hand clutching his heart.

She huffs and stops in front of him. “We have Muggle Studies at 1!”

Kai’s eyes nearly bulge out. In his quest to discover the truth, he forgot about his last final exam. “Muggle Studies?” he squeaks. It’s easily his worst subject.

“Come on! The others are doing last-minute revising in the library. Let’s go!”

Kai follows her at a run, the surprising weight of his final exam taking over his mind. The mystery of the thesis will just have to wait.

* * *

Kai doesn’t know how he survives the Muggle Studies exam, but before he knows it, it’s dinnertime in the Great Hall. He chats with his Hufflepuff friends about the exam, his face bright and flushed and his mind clear. He almost forgets about everything else completely until he hears his name called: “Kai.”

Kai looks up into the large eyes of Taehyun. “Hey,” he replies, his voice faltering. His visit with Slorians comes floating back into his head.

“What time do you want to meet tomorrow to see Slorians?” asks Taehyun, leaning on the Hufflepuff table idly.

Kai’s mouth falls open. He should tell Taehyun. He should take Taehyun aside and tell him everything. _ But Taehyun will get so mad that I went without him. _ Kai shuts his mouth. “How about 11? At the notice board,” he suggests, guilt lapping at him. 

“Sure,” agrees Taehyun easily. “Okay, I’ll see you there.”

_ I’ll just tell him tomorrow, _Kai decides as Taehyun leaves. He smiles as one of his friends shows him a rare Chocolate Frog card. Everyone is forgotten. He’s just a Hufflepuff hanging out with other Hufflepuffs.

That is, until he’s heading up to the dormitory after dinner. “Kai!” someone calls. Kai turns on the staircase, finding Beomgyu rushing up with something in hand.

“I’ll see you guys in a bit,” Kai promises to his friends, who continue to the Hufflepuff Common Room as Kai descends a few stairs to meet Beomgyu. “What is it?” he calls in Korean.

Beomgyu holds out a folded piece of paper and stops just a few stairs short of Kai. “Hyung told me to give this to you.”

_‘Hyung?’ _ Kai wonders, taking the paper and unfolding it. _ Which hyung? _ His brain stops short as he reads.

> _ Kai,_
> 
> _That classroom where we kissed. 9:45pm._
> 
> _Soobin-hyung_

For a moment, his eyes just scan and rescan the letter, making absolutely sure that he isn’t hallucinating. “What… is this…?” he asks weakly.

“Why, what does it say?” asks Beomgyu, taking a step up.

Kai jerks away reflexively. “Nothing,” he chokes. “Nothing. Um. Thanks.”

Beomgyu's smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “Everyone’s in love with him, huh?” 

Kai blinks. “Uh, I guess,” he replies half-heartedly. He thought he might flush hotly, but he’s surprised at his own lack of reaction. He’s embarrassed, of course; his one-sided kiss with Soobin is still a mortifying memory. But none of the hotness remains. His ears don’t feel warm. His stomach doesn’t tighten. He’s just… confused. “See you, hyung,” he says, rushing back up the stairs with the note in hand.

Why does he feel like it's making fun of him?

* * *

9:45 comes. _ Normally _ if he’s out wandering past curfew, Kai has to strategically wait for Hans to take his routine staff room nap to sneak past him. However, it seems that tonight, judging from the glow emitting from the door, Hans has taken his break early. Kai continues on his way, counting his blessings that he won’t be egregiously late for his date. 

_ It’s not a date, _ he reminds himself, trodding downstairs in his pajamas. 

When he arrives at the defunct classroom wing, he slows down. “Hyung?” he calls softly, peeking into the classroom where he indeed kissed Soobin almost a month ago. 

It’s empty. Kai sweeps inside, letting out a tense breath. He reflects that it’s much better to be the first one here. He winces a little upon looking at the spot where he kissed Soobin and so glances away, padding farther in to idly inspect the lab tables.

He slides behind one in particular, noticing some moonlit words scratched into the surface. _ Wicked, _ he thinks, sidling up to the markings. Various names meet his eye as well as some animated drawings of phallic objects at which he snorts. _ I can’t believe that Hogwarts didn’t think to enchant against… _

But his thought is cut short when his eye catches some Korean: **그게 날아**. _ It flies. _ He blinks in surprise. _ What flies? _No sooner does he wonder than the strokes of the Korean characters detach and rearrange into a drawing of a little book that sprouts wings. It flutters within a three-inch radius wildly before retracting its wings and sinking into the surface of the table. 

Kai’s eyes go wide, just staring. Moments later, the strokes etch back into the surface, creating **그게 날아** once more. He looks down at the table edge, directly in front of his belly. Scrawled in the same tiny Korean font as “_It flies” _is a name: **최홍락**. Choi Hongnak. 

_ It flies. _ Flares go off in Kai’s brain. “The book,” he whispers, his eyes going impossibly wider. The journal with Hongnak’s thesis in the Restricted Section must _ fly_. “Oh my God,” he breathes, his fingers trembling over the words. _ I can find it. _

Kai moves to take out his wand so that he can cast some kind of hiding charm. He is impressed by Hongnak’s forethought in writing down a clue, but it’s not going to help him if anyone else can find it, too. But his wand isn’t in his pocket. For a brief moment, he panics, and then he realizes that he left it on his bedside table. In his anxious getting-ready-to-meet-Soobin haze, he forgot to pick up his wand. “What am I, some kind of idiot?” he berates himself, staring.

_ Never mind. I’ll erase it in the morning. _

Movement catches his eye above. His eyes flicker up to a large mirror mounted on the side wall. It shows a silhouette framed in the doorway.

Kai turns to the door and there stands a dark-haired boy leaning against the doorframe. But it’s not Soobin.

It’s Beomgyu.

For a moment, neither of them says anything, just taking each other in. Kai’s first thought is _ hey, you dyed your hair black! Looks good! _ But something about Beomgyu’s posture puts Kai ill at ease. “Hey,” says Kai, just looking.

Beomgyu’s arms stay crossed. He stares back, unmoving.

Kai’s breath quickens. _ This is not good. This is not good. _As if on instinct, he reaches for his wand again. When his hand falls on the empty pocket, panic starts to rise in his chest. 

He knows what this is. He should’ve seen this coming. “Hyung,” he says, very small.

Beomgyu lets out a small sigh and reaches into his own back pocket.

Kai’s eyes flit to the door at the back of the classroom. It’s too far. He won’t make it before—

“Let me tell you how this is gonna go,” begins Beomgyu, pointing his wand at Kai’s chest.

Kai stands still, feeling absolutely paralyzed even though Beomgyu hasn’t cast a single spell. “Hyung,” he whimpers.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” promises Beomgyu, who moves into the room slowly. The expression on his face is hard to read. Rigid. “All you have to do is listen.”

Kai flinches back with each of Beomgyu’s steps, his mind swirling. _ Escape. How do I escape? _ He glances again at the other door. He should run— find Hans. But the staff room is too far now; and can Kai really outrun an armed Beomgyu? “You’re scaring me,” he says, his voice trembling. It’s the truth.

Beomgyu stops next to the front table. In the candlelight, Kai can see his hand shaking slightly. “You are going to relax your body,” he instructs patiently. When Kai chokes on a terrified sob, he gets louder. “And I am going to put you to sleep. Okay?”

Kai can’t help the tears. He feels so scared. He moves backward, trying not to cry, but it seeps through his words. “Hyung, please let me go,” he begs. “Please let me go.”

“I can’t,” Beomgyu says hoarsely. “But it’s okay. I’m sorry. Don’t worry.”

“Let me go,” sobs Kai.

“Kai,” says Beomgyu, louder. He looks sad but determined. “This is gonna be so smooth. It’s gonna be so easy and you’re gonna be so relaxed. You want to relax, right?”

“No,” whispers Kai.

“You wanna hang out with your Hufflepuff friends, right?”

Something strikes Kai. “Stop,” he gasps, flinging up his hands in defense. “Wait! I can help!”

Beomgyu frowns.

Heart pounding, mouth fumbling, Kai continues, “I can get the journal! I know this castle like the back of my hand and I can get past Hans! You won’t get into the Restricted Section without dealing with him!”

Beomgyu snorts without humor. “Hans is in fact extremely fond of Yeonjun’s singing.”

_What? What does that have to do with anything?_

Beomgyu cocks his head. “Didn’t you hear that Yeonjun is singing at the Yule Ball?”

With a wand poised at him so seriously, Kai doesn’t feel like he can think. He definitely doesn’t think that he’s heard about Yeonjun singing. “So what,” he breathes. He glances at the other door again. _ Can I make it? _With each step backwards, he’s getting closer to it.

“‘So what?’” Beomgyu repeats incredulously. “Hans will do anything to hear Yeonjun sing. Yeonjun is singing at the Yule Ball. So...”

Kai fixes on Beomgyu. _ No way. _ “Hans is gonna go to the Ball.”

Beomgyu nods and rests against the table nearest to him. “And when Yeonjun is singing and Hans is in the audience, who will be watching the Restricted Section?”

“No one,” Kai realizes, his stomach dropping. Assuming that Hans really abandons his duties to go to the Great Hall, anyone could sneak into the Restricted Section of the library. Hell, at that point Aadnevik could use the Imperius Curse on 10 or 20 students to tear the place apart.

Which means that there is no use for Kai.

“That gives me a lot of time to get the journal, don’t you think?” says Beomgyu. It almost borders on a real question, like he wants Kai’s opinion on the plan.

Kai swallows, saying nothing. Beomgyu may have time to search the Restricted Section, but he doesn’t have the crucial clue that Kai has: _ It flies. _

At Kai’s hesitation, Beomgyu narrows his eyes. “What?”

“Nothing,” says Kai quickly. _ Too _ quickly, he realizes.

“Do you know something that I don’t?”

“No,” replies Kai, feigning naivety. 

Beomgyu considers him. Kai holds his breath, staring down at the floor in concentration. _ Believe me, _ he prays. _ Believe me. _

And Beomgyu must. He stands upright and examines his watch. “Damn it. Hans is gonna wake up soon.” He pushes his sleeves up and takes a deep, shaky breath. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Kai bolts for the back door.

“_Caelestis somnium!_”

Kai dives under a table as a wicked white blast sears past him, spattering against the wall.

“_Colloportus!_” yells Beomgyu again.

Kai’s breath goes out as he hears the door lock click. He’s trapped. His eyes scan around wildly, looking for anything with which to defend himself. He doesn’t recognize the first spell that Beomgyu used, but based on _ “somnium,” _ he guesses that Beomgyu really intends to put him to sleep.

A glint of silver catches his eye, but he feels even worse when he looks at it directly. On the bottom shelf of an open cupboard is a thin, delicate syringe, partially filled. But as Beomgyu calls out another spell, Kai feels he has no choice. He jumps out from his hiding spot and wraps his hand around the syringe, looking back wildly at Beomgyu, who is now in the middle of the room.

His eyes fall on Kai. “_Petrificus totalus!_” He shoots just as Kai tumbles out of the way to another table.

Kai’s feet bump into one of the stools; he comes back to himself. With blind adrenaline, he picks up the stool and throws it at Beomgyu over the table.

Beomgyu isn’t quick enough to defend with a spell and instead brings up his hands. “What the—!” He catches the stool just as it hits him in the torso and chokes out a groan, stumbling back. 

With borrowed time, Kai surges around the table and runs at Beomgyu.

He’s not sure what happens first. All he knows is that his syringe finds its mark in Beomgyu’s left trapezius muscle and the stool gets swung back into him. Kai falls.

Beomgyu is standing over him now with blood blooming around the syringe, which he yanks out with a flinch and an unsteady step. He looks terrified and weak himself. “_Caelestis somnium,_” he utters, swishing his wand just so as he collapses onto the fallen stool. A glowing white string of light emerges from his wand and seeks out Kai’s heart, seeping through the fabric of his shirt and into his skin.

It’s as if all of the nerves in his body are melting. Kai’s mouth falls open. “Hyung,” he tries, but the sound won't come. The world is collapsing in on a singularity and the overwhelming desire to sleep washes over him in waves until nothing else matters at all.

_ Rest, _the spell coos.

_ Wait, _he fights uselessly, going glassy-eyed.

_ It’s okay, _ it coos again, suddenly sounding a lot like Soobin. Is it pulling from Kai’s mind? _ Go to sleep, baby. _

_ Okay. _ Kai’s heavy eyelids droop closed and his head gently lolls to the side. _ Thank you. _

The light goes out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/godtyun) or [cc](https://curiouscat.me/godtyun)!  
weekly updates!


	27. the rest is silence;

Saturday.

Taehyun leans over a railing, looking down upon the Entrance Hall as groups of students say farewell to each other and head home for the holidays. Unlike in previous years, though, the number going home is rather small; it’s a testament to the schoolwide excitement over the upcoming Yule Ball.

The sound of chatting students suddenly emerges from behind him and he turns around. Exiting the Hufflepuff Common Room is a group of third-years that Taehyun recognizes as Kai’s friends, but Kai is not with them. “Excuse me," he calls out, catching their attention, "Have you seen Kai Huening?"

They look to each other nervously before a girl speaks up: “None of us have seen him since Thursday. We wondered if maybe he’d gone home for the holidays after all, but…”

A boy speaks up. “His trunk and things are still around his bed.”

“Oh, okay,” replies Taehyun, leaning back onto the railing. “Thanks anyway.”

The Hufflepuff boy looks among his friends. “We were going to tell Professor Warrington if he doesn’t turn up by Monday.”

“Sure, that sounds reasonable,” murmurs Taehyun, more to himself as he detaches from the conversation.

“Sorry,” they mumble in a chorus, trotting away in hushed conversation.

Taehyun looks back down at the students in the Entrance Hall, scanning for his friend. It’s only been two days, so why does he feel nervous?

He finds himself wanting to see Beomgyu, who would surely hold him and lull warm, sweet words into his ear, so he single-mindedly paces the length of the castle to the Dungeon belonging to Slytherin House.

He makes it into the Common Room when he sees Daniel Choi chatting at a table with various friends, a card game evidently going among them. “Daniel,” he calls out.

Daniel looks up. “Hey!” he calls out over the fanfare of the raucous sixth-years. “Happy end of term!”

“Happy end of term,” echoes Taehyun half-heartedly, looking from Daniel to the dormitory stairs. “Do you know where Beomgyu is?”

Daniel opens his mouth but says nothing. Then he says, “Oh, he went home.”

Taehyun blinks. _ Home? But Beomgyu said… _ “Oh. Was there an emergency or something?”

“Yeah,” says Daniel. “He sent me an owl. He said he’ll be back next week. Definitely in time for the Yule Ball.”

Taehyun pauses, fully taken aback. Beomgyu should have told him if he was leaving but instead he told Daniel? _ Daniel_, over his boyfriend? “Is that so,” he deadpans. But trying to act a little sensitive, he considers Daniel kindly. “Did he say what happened?”

“He didn’t say,” replies Daniel matter-of-factly. But in Taehyun’s opinion, he sounds far too neutral for a situation that should conjure fraught nerves.

“Well,” he says, appraising the card table with a nod. “Um. You wouldn’t have seen Kai around either, have you?”

Daniel shakes his head.

Taehyun nods. “Well if you see him, his Hufflepuff friends are getting worried about him.”

“Sure.”

And so he departs, feeling even worse than he did when he came in. It’s not in his character to mope, but he can’t help but feel that he’s been abandoned. Kai stands him up after he _ finally _ convinces him to let him in on his detective work and now Beomgyu leaves without a trace, only sparing time to send an owl to Daniel instead of his actual boyfriend? 

_ Does no one trust me? _ Taehyun wonders miserably, wondering if it’s even worth it to look for Soobin. _ He’s probably avoiding me too, at this rate. _

* * *

Monday.

Soobin wakes up to Yuuto prodding him. “Big news. Some third-year Hufflepuffs reported Kai Huening missing. Slorians has the ghosts conducting a ground search for him.”

Soobin stares up at him, his mind going blank. Almost four days of radio silence from Kai and this is the result. 

Yuuto continues with awkward gentleness, “Thought you’d like to know. Sorry about it.”

Soobin lies there, tears prickling his eyes and delayed shock registering in sick waves that make him want to vomit. 

He closes his eyes once more, fighting nausea.

_It’s a dream. It’s a dream._

* * *

It is not a dream. By Wednesday, almost a week since Kai went missing, it sinks in for Soobin that this is real. Kai is gone.

The ghosts search the breadth of the castle to no avail, leading some students to rowdily theorize that Kai simply hurried home because of some kind of family emergency. But Soobin isn’t convinced. Hogwarts must have immediately contacted Kai's family. If he were safe at home, they would have sent back an owl saying so and Slorians would have publicly put the case to rest.

Instead, Kai seems to be nowhere. 

“Maybe he has a friend in Hogsmeade that he fancied visiting,” suggests a Hufflepuff at breakfast, just loud enough for Soobin to overhear. His appetite becomes nil.

He needs to get out. Now. He can’t stand sitting around for another moment in this castle where Kai may or may not be. He is of no company to an ever-quieting Taehyun and his in-progress apology to Yeonjun is firmly on hiatus.

Just as he passes the far end of the Slytherin table, his eyes fixed on the door, he feels the final straw slip from his temperance.

“I reckon he was creeping around and got eaten by rats. Wouldn’t that be _fitting?_”

A few scattered laughs meet the theory. Soobin stops dead in his tracks.

“Shut up, Jonas,” says a familiar voice from the bench closer to Soobin.

Jonas must notice Soobin. “Hey Boobin, where are you hiding the body?”

_ Keep walking_, he prays, but his feet stay glued in place.

Jonas’s sneer cuts through his prayer. “You know, I keep trying to imagine it. No way either of you topped, right? What do two bottoms do together, _ wiggle around? _”

Soobin whirls around just as Yeonjun jumps over the food-laden table and administers a full-strength right hook to Jonas’s cheek that makes the other Slytherins scream and yell in encouragement or reaction. Soobin stares in open-mouthed shock as Yeonjun drags Jonas to the ground and, teeth gritted and eyes wild, throws punch after punch, though the bigger boy lies limp. No one stops him. 

His heart hammering, Soobin jumps over the table himself and wraps his arms around Yeonjun’s middle, pulling him away. “Stop!” he yells as Yeonjun tries to break away from him. “Yeonjun, stop!”

“Fucking piece of shit good-for-nothing—!” spits Yeonjun, his stomach moving wildly under Soobin’s grip. “LET ME GO!”

“What’s going on there!” a high-pitched voice rings from the faculty table. Soobin turns to look. Professor Warrington stands from her chair, her expression stern as she puts her hands on her hips.

“Yeonjun,” stammers Soobin as Yeonjun continues to thrash. “Come on, come _ on! _” With strength that has never possessed him in his life, he lifts Yeonjun from the ground and carries him through the Entrance Hall and out the front door, leaving the calamity behind them.

“Let me go,” breathes Yeonjun harshly, finally letting up in his wildness but still twitching violently, like his body is out of his control. “Let me kill him.”

Goosebumps rise on Soobin’s arms as he rounds the castle walls, looking for a safe spot to drop Yeonjun. “Not today,” he replies, finding a tucked-in corner where no one can observe them from the windows above. He kneels and puts Yeonjun down, moving his hands to gently settle on the flat junction between Yeonjun’s pec and shoulder on both sides.

Under the suggestion of Soobin’s hands, Yeonjun lies flat on his back, still breathing hard with his eyes screwed shut.

“Breathe,” whispers Soobin, letting his hands mold into Yeonjun the way his sister Eunha did to him as a kid whenever he was in distress.

At first, Yeonjun's body resists him, but after a minute, his breathing begins to level out. Soobin feels the angry, tight muscles give way under his hands bit by bit, allowing him to press down a little more.

Finally, Yeonjun's shoulders drop back. It must release something inside of him, because his mouth tightens and his stomach trembles like he’s going to cry. 

“Let go,” says Soobin. _ Let go, hyung. _

So Yeonjun cries. When Soobin finally removes his hands, Yeonjun grabs one and squeezes it tightly without pause, his right knuckle blotched with red.

* * *

On Friday morning, Yuuto informs Soobin that Kai’s disappearance has made it onto the Bad News section of the Daily Prophet, the British wizarding newspaper. In the same breath, he brags that Laura Hall has agreed to be his date to the Yule Ball.

* * *

Monday.

Soobin sits alone at breakfast while planning his day. _ Send a letter to Eunha, practice flying, review DADA material for next term… _

“Hey,” says Taehyun, who appears before him and plops down like they haven’t barely spoken in a week.

Soobin looks up from his plate at his fourth-year friend, who stares back at him tiredly. He looks even thinner than usual. “Hey,” he replies softly. “How are you?”

Taehyun shakes his head. “I think he really dumped me this time.”

Soobin quirks a brow.

“He still hasn’t sent me an owl. Why does Daniel get one and I don’t?” he asks bitterly, his eyes now drawn downward.

“Did Beomgyu leave?”

“‘Family emergency,’” Taehyun drawls. “But if you wanna get technical, I’m part of his family too, so why haven’t I been told?”

Soobin puts down his forkful of pastry. “What about asking your brother? He’s married to Beomgyu’s sister, right?”

“My _ brother!_” starts Taehyun venomously, reaching into his pocket. He slaps down a messily folded piece of parchment which Soobin carefully takes and unfolds.

> _Taehyun-ah ♡_
> 
> _We miss you so much! Gangnam is the same as it’s always been, so Bogyung and I decided to holiday in Monaco and celebrate Christmas there! We’ll send you lots of photos. Bora is getting cuter and fatter every day ^^ Can’t wait to see you at Easter. Keep practicing magic!_
> 
> _♡ Wonjun-hyung_

“It doesn’t sound like anything is wrong,” observes Soobin in surprise, suddenly realizing that he hasn’t seen Beomgyu in a while.

“Exactly. Daniel gets an emergency alert and I get _ Merry Christmas_. How does that make sense?”

“Well,” starts Soobin gently, remembering something that Beomgyu said to him, “They’ve been friends since birth.”

Taehyun stops short. “What?”

“Yeah. Beomgyu said that… that Yeonjun was at the hospital when he was born. They’re family friends.”

“Really,” says Taehyun slowly. “Wouldn’t I have heard about Daniel before Hogwarts since I’m also Beomgyu’s close family friend?”

Soobin pauses. Sure, it’s unlikely, but it’s still technically possible. “I mean, if your parents are in different social—" He stops short upon seeing Yeonjun gliding towards them with a soft smile. Soobin's heart tugs. "Yeonjun, how are you?"

“Better,” replies Yeonjun, leaning onto the table next to Taehyun. “Hey, did you want to fly later?”

Soobin blinks in surprise. “Oh. Yeah, I was actually planning on it. Do you wanna come with?”

Taehyun gives him a dull look that Yeonjun can’t see.

“Yeah. I’d like to.”

“Okay,” replies Soobin, unable to help the corners of his mouth from upturning. “Okay, just let me finish eating and I’ll… uh… 20 minutes?”

“Yeah. I’ll wait out front.”

Yeonjun is going to wait for him. Soobin nods a little too vehemently. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

Taehyun’s look is enough to say _ Did you wanna say ‘yeah’ one more time? _

But Yeonjun’s twinkling eyes send Soobin to another plane of existence. “Okay, see you in a bit. See you, Taehyun.”

Taehyun mumbles something in response. When Yeonjun glides away, he spares him a look and then scoffs at Soobin. “You’d think he was part Veela, the way you look at him.”

“Huh?” asks Soobin, coming out of his daze.

“Never mind,” sighs Taehyun, snatching his letter. “Something’s weird. Kai went missing last Thursday. Beomgyu went home that day, too. Isn’t that weird?”

“I can't tell what you're suggesting."

“Kai was _investigating_ something, hyung.”

Soobin narrows his eyes. “Investigating what?” he asks slowly.

Taehyun pauses. “I don’t know,” he admits. “But it has to do with Daniel, his dad, and Professor Aadnevik.”

“_Aadnevik,_” Soobin says incredulously. “You’re joking.”

“I’m not,” says Taehyun, leaning over the table and speaking quietly. “Remember when we saw Daniel’s dad in that Quidditch book?”

“Right,” says Soobin slowly, remembering the boy in the picture who looked like a clone of Yeonjun. “Choi… Ho…”

“Choi Hongnak,” Taehyun continues, “used to be a special student of Professor Aadnevik’s. She oversaw his seventh-year thesis.”

“Do I have to do a thesis in my seventh year?”

“Hyung.”

“Sorry. Continue.”

Taehyun sits back down, his voice quieting still. “So isn’t it interesting that Kai is doing all this detective work and he goes missing? Not to mention the weird tension between him and Daniel before?”

Soobin wants to say that he doesn’t know what Taehyun is talking about, but his mind goes back to Duelement when Yeonjun and Kai hurt each other on purpose. “I just assumed it was…”

“What, because they’re both in love with you?” Taehyun cuts in with a dry smile.

“Well you don’t have to say it like _ that._”

“It’s something else. I _asked_ Kai why he challenged Daniel to a nonverbal duel. Know what he said?” Taehyun pauses, leaning closer. “He said he wanted to see if Daniel could perform wandless magic.”

“Okay,” says Soobin slowly. “So… some people can do wandless magic.”

“Right. But Kai must’ve wanted to know for a specific _reason_—”

“But _ what _ reason, Taehyun?” interrupts Soobin. “You’re making a lot of conjectures here that don’t actually lead to an answer. Yeonjun knows wandless magic. Fine. Probably one of his parents is from Korea. They could’ve taught him. And Kai—!” He goes quiet.

Taehyun’s mouth closes.

Soobin takes a deep breath. “I know you’re in a tough spot right now, Tyun. But maybe Beomgyu just wants space, maybe Yeonjun is just Korean-American, and maybe Kai—”

“—is _dead_,” finishes Taehyun, his face now flushed. “You want to play Occam’s Razor? Okay, let’s play. That’s the simplest answer. Kai is dead. Say it.”

_ No_. But Soobin's head is spiraling in on that horrible, horrible thought.

“I don’t think he’s dead, hyung. And neither should you.” Taehyun stands up. “Just consider that things might be more complicated than you think.”

Soobin watches him pace away without looking back and stays sitting, staring dully at the double doors until a loud sneeze releases him from his stupor.

_Shit, I need to meet Yeonjun! _It is with great grace that he shoves the last of his pastry into his mouth and books it out of the Great Hall.

Standing on the second step and gazing out into the distance is Yeonjun, who turns at Soobin's noisy arrival. “Hey,” he says, looking particularly smiley and squishy in the natural light.

“Hey,” replies Soobin, so dazed by Yeonjun that he wonders if he really is part Veela like Taehyun said. But that just reminds Soobin of everything Taehyun tried to say. But it’s too strange— too abstract to deal with. 

Yeonjun is real and right in front of him and Soobin's not going to let him go anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/godtyun) or [cc](https://curiouscat.me/godtyun)!  
weekly updates!
> 
> this is the second time i've accidentally incorporated [the alexander technique](https://alexandertechnique.com/at/) into a chapter, so i'd like to officially plug it in.
> 
> reader-submitted meme: ["kai and beomgyu during this chapter"](https://twitter.com/filmreactpics/status/1233881725261926400?s=20)


	28. I Don't Wanna Wake Up

Soobin pulls his scarf a little closer, glancing over at Yeonjun as they walk six feet apart. Yeonjun’s eyes are trained ahead at something distant. Soobin looks, but all that meets him is the same landscape he’s known for four-and-a-half years now— that Yeonjun has seen for one year longer.

Towards the Quidditch pitch they go, crunching the frost in synchronized steps. The silence between them isn’t so bad; the sounds of nature and the distant yells and laughter of students still warm inside the castle create a comfortable atmosphere, like they’ve been doing this for years.

But they haven’t. And now Taehyun is telling Soobin that he knows Yeonjun even less than he thought he did. “You, um,” he starts, looking for anything else to think about.

“Yeah?” Yeonjun inquires, glancing at Soobin directly.

Soobin tries not to bug. He looks ahead. School. They go to school together. School is a great topic. “Are you taking any NEWT classes?”

_ Oh great, _ he thinks retroactively. _ You’re asking about school. _

“Uh, yeah. Astronomy and Charms.”

Soobin’s eyes widen. “What?” he asks, before he can stop himself.

Yeonjun blinks at him. “What?”

“You’re not taking DADA?” Surely, Yeonjun would be a shoe-in for the Defense Against the Dark Arts NEWT class. Soobin can’t believe this. _ Astronomy _ and _ Charms? _

Yeonjun barks out a laugh. “No way. I got Outstanding on the OWL, but I didn’t wanna take the NEWT.”

“Why not?” asks Soobin incredulously.

Yeonjun blinks at him again before pouting indignantly. “You sound like my mom. What, what is it?”

“Well— I mean,” Soobin tries, reflecting on what he’s seen of Yeonjun’s DADA skills. “You were really good at Duelement. I mean, how did Laura Hall even beat you?”

“Kai wore me down,” Yeonjun laughs, but his expression falls instantly.

Soobin looks away. 

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Soobin says quickly, focusing on the horizon. “Let’s just…”

“Okay.”

“You just seem like Auror material,” Soobin says, finding his train of thought again. Yes. Yes, Yeonjun would make a fantastic Auror.

_ So would Kai_.

“Yeah, I don’t want that, though. I wanna study music.” At Soobin’s surprised expression, Yeonjun beams. “I know, I’m just that talented.”

Soobin snorts.

Yeonjun grins wider. “I think I wanna do musicals, but I’ve never tried acting. I was thinking of applying to the Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts next year.” They approach the pitch and turn into the broomshed, collecting their respective brooms. Soobin listens to Yeonjun ramble on, “I’m actually excited about it. DADA doesn’t make me feel like that.”

“Why study for the Astronomy NEWT, then?” Soobin asks as they walk onto the pitch. “It’s sort of a weird subject for someone who wants to be in musicals. Are you good at it?”

“No, I just thought I might as well since Aadnevik, uh, likes me.”

“Oh.” Soobin takes this in stride, although he can hear the echo of Taehyun telling him about what Kai was investigating. _ Stop thinking about it. _ “Why are you running a dueling club if you don’t like defensive magic?”

“It’s not that I don’t like defensive magic,” Yeonjun clarifies, running his fingers through his hair. “I just hate dealing with the Dark Arts. I’m helping Dueling Club because Hannah Firster cornered me on the first day of classes and demanded I be her right hand or else lose _ my _ right hand.”

Soobin makes an appreciative sound as they slow down near the center of the field. Now they’re just looking at each other.

Frosted field, sunny sky. Yeonjun looks like a dream.

_ Now. _

“Hey,” Soobin utters softly. “I’m ready to give my apology.”

Yeonjun stares. Then, in a rush, he says, “_Oh, _ no, no, Soobin, I didn’t mean to drag you out here for an apology. You can take your time.”

And yeah, they’re finally back on speaking terms and finally back to a pleasant civility, but Soobin doesn’t want to glaze over the weirdness between them. He doesn’t want their fights and badly awkward moments to make a repeat, so he needs to address it even though his insides are turning at the thought. “I wanna do it now.”

With a shaky breath, he steps back and sets down his broom beside him. The air seems to still. From his pocket he pulls out a small piece of paper, clumsily unfolding it with his gloved hands. After a couple of failed attempts, he pulls off the gloves entirely. The cold seeps through his hands right away, but he pays it no mind. 

He clears his throat. “To…”

Right away he stops, still too afraid to look at Yeonjun directly. “Do you prefer Yeonjun or Daniel?”

When Yeonjun says nothing, Soobin adds, “I can’t go on if I don’t know the name you like.”

After another silence, during which Soobin agonizes if he’s really going to have to look at him, Yeonjun says, “Yeonjun is fine.”

“If it’s just for my convenience, please don’t worry about it. I don’t mind calling you Daniel,” he says firmly.

Yeonjun is American. Yes, he introduced himself with his Korean name for Soobin, but if he grew up with Daniel and likes Daniel better, then Soobin doesn’t want to delude himself. He won’t force their commonality anymore.

“I prefer Yeonjun. I want you to call me Yeonjun.”

Soobin looks up in surprise, forgetting himself. At Yeonjun’s even stare, he breaks away and refers back to his note, his heart shaking. “To Yeonjun,” he starts again. “For slandering your House, I am sorry. I will remain in Slytherin’s debt until you set me free.”

At Yeonjun’s snort, Soobin smiles, courage swelling in him. “For calling you spineless, I am sorry.” He clears his throat and reads on. “You weren’t spineless. You were really nice to me and I didn’t know how to act, so I made you the bad guy. I’m sorry for that.”

And then the note ends. Soobin stares at the blank part of the paper, as if willing words to appear, but he knows that it’s down to this.

Yeah, he knew he hadn’t finished writing the apology. He didn’t want that to stop him from jumping on the right timing, though. 

Bereft of a script to lead him, Soobin settles into the silence, letting the words come out of him directly, even if they’re no good. “I’m sorry I’m not much help to you when you cry,” he says quietly.

“Oh,” he adds with a half-laugh, another one of his mistakes floating to the surface. “On that day in Hogsmeade when I found that Korean book, I, uh, I took a hate potion. I thought it’d get rid of my… um…” Despite the cold, he can feel heat flushing his ears. “...infatuation with you, but I think it just made me act like a dick,” he finishes quickly, bulldozing through the word _ infatuation _ like he didn’t just completely out his mushy feelings.

“I’m sorry for all those things,” he goes on, voice quite shaky now. Does Yeonjun think Soobin likes him? Doesn’t Soobin _ want _ Yeonjun to realize that?

What _ does _ he want?

“I want us to have a good relationship,” he says firmly, channeling the directness that Beomgyu literally beat into him. “I really like being with you.”

Finally, he looks up.

His fox-eyed boy smiles gently at him, his eyes far too shimmery for Soobin’s own good. “Yeah, okay.”

Soobin’s mouth drops. _ Just like that? _

“Now come on,” Yeonjun laughs, swatting away the note and bending to pick up Soobin’s broom. “You’re so serious. Are you sure _ you _ don’t want to be an actor?”

Soobin quips, “But then I’ll have no good lines to save for real life.”

Yeonjun makes an incredulous sound and hands Soobin his broom. The sides of their pinkies brush. “Do you mind waiting for my apology, by the way? It’s not ready at all.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Soobin touches his ears, which are still burning from the embarrassment.

“Cool. Ready to fly?”

“Yeonjun?” asks Soobin, a little quietly. “Do you think we can be real friends?”

Fingers pinch his cheek. Yeonjun is suddenly quite close. “I think we’ll work something out,” he murmurs, lightly tapping his cheek after.

Soobin feels quite warm now as he watches Yeonjun take to the sky. If he weren’t so relieved that Yeonjun accepted his apology, he’d be melting into the turf. (As if he isn’t already.)

With a belated smile, he follows after Yeonjun.

“So you’re a fifth year!” Yeonjun shouts, flying in loops. “Do you have any idea what you’re gonna do after Hogwarts?”

“Teach, maybe!” Soobin calls back, relishing the cool air.

“No way!” Yeonjun beams. “That’s what I pictured for you!”

They fly around for a while like that, chatting about school and post-Hogwarts plans. Yeonjun expresses a desire to move constantly. Soobin says he wants to live in Korea forever.

Chatting dissolves into silent flying. Some time later, Soobin glances at his broom and notices a crack running along the grain with ice nestled in it. “Oh, no,” he utters, quickly descending to the ground.

“What is it?”

“Son of a bitch,” he whispers panickedly on the turf, inspecting closer. “Look at this,” he says to Yeonjun, who lands and takes his broom in hand.

“Shit. That’s dangerous.”

“This was my brother’s broom.”

Yeonjun pats his shoulder. “It’s okay. Let’s go back and take it to Nott.”

“Okay,” Soobin agrees. While Yeonjun puts his broom back in the shed, Soobin applies a heating spell to melt the offending ice in the crack. 

Upon returning to the castle, the pair skip up the marble staircase, just passing the second floor when a jolly Londoner voice calls out from the corridor. “Choy Boys!”

Yeonjun and Soobin stop at once, giving each other a look. Soobin knows at once that Yeonjun has also heard this nickname before. Synchronized, they turn to look at the approaching figure of Headmaster Slorians. A fluffy red headband takes up the breadth of his forehead, golden bells hanging from it in intervals. “That’s two out of three. Where’s our third?” he asks, grinning.

Soobin waits for Yeonjun to respond since Taehyun said that he’s the one in contact with Beomgyu, but he says nothing, so Soobin answers, “He went home for an emergency.”

Headmaster Slorians’ smile falls a bit. “I don’t recall approving that.”

“No?”

“No,” he confirms, furrowing his brows. “Students must notify me about leaving the grounds if they have already submitted to stay for the holidays.” After a beat, he smiles again. “I suppose I will be contacting Beomgyu’s family, then! Just to make sure.”

Soobin glances at Yeonjun, who remains startlingly impassive.

Slorians goes on. “What are you boys up to, then?”

“We were flying, sir,” Soobin answers promptly, hoping that if this ends quickly, he and Yeonjun can escape a prolonged conversation with the mega-extravert.

“Flying! Wonderful. You must be freezing, though! Care for a cuppa?”

Yeonjun finally speaks, though his voice sounds more stilted than usual. “Sir, I was just about to take Soobin to…” But he simply trails off, like his brain shut down midway.

“Ah!” Slorians says after a beat, clapping. “I actually have something to talk to Soobin about.”

_ Me? _ Soobin panics, trying to think of any way to turn down a meeting with Slorians.

“Sir, may I speak to you?” asks Yeonjun, taking a half-step toward Slorians.

“You are speaking to me.”

Yeonjun clears his throat. “Maybe Soobin and I can deliver his broom to Professor Nott and then come by later,” he offers, his hand finding Soobin’s arm.

Slorians smiles at Yeonjun, unfazed. “Or perhaps _ you _ can deliver Soobin’s broom and _ I _ can take Soobin. That’d be right good of you, wouldn’t it?” he asks.

“Um,” Soobin mumbles, gently handing his broom to Yeonjun. “Thanks.” He gives Yeonjun a sheepish, defeated smile.

Yeonjun taps Soobin’s fingers on the broom. “See you at dinner.”

“See you,” says Soobin, following Slorians across the corridor while Yeonjun starts climbing more stairs. The light catches his cheek, illuminating him like an angel.

* * *

“Make yourself comfy,” Slorians sings, dropping onto his desk chair with a satisfied sigh. “What kind of tea would you like? I also have coffee. Might be a bit temperamental, though,” he whispers, pointing at a coffee machine which whirs sporadically like a revving engine.

“Um,” Soobin hesitates, sitting down opposite him in a maroon loveseat— though at this angle, he cannot see the Headmaster through the piles of books stacked horribly on his desk, so Soobin politely scoots to the side and peers through a crack to speak. “Tea is fine.”

As if it were waiting for his command, a display on the wall next to him rumbles uproariously, startling Soobin. The glass display shows an array of 40 or 50 tea varieties labeled in tiny fonts. Soobin has to lean very close to read even one. _ PEPPERMINT, _ he sees, and points to it gently. “Peppermint, please.” The peppermint tea bag bursts out of its box toward an unseen corner of the room.

“An excellent choice for winter,” Slorians compliments. “I’ll have the same!” Another peppermint tea bag flies out, this time scarcely missing Soobin’s nose on its flight to meet its predecessor. From the corner of the room, rackety metal sounds can be heard. The sound of fire igniting is followed by silence perforated with the faint humming of a low fire. “Now. Soobin. Professor Nott tells me that you are an exceptional flier.”

Soobin meets Slorians’ visible eye through the crack in the books, entirely caught off-guard. Professor Nott spoke to Slorians about his flying? “Um… is this career counseling?”

“Not formally,” Slorians amends. “But I was quite the Quidditch player in my day, mind you. And if you fancy playing professionally, well, we’ve got to get you up to scratch, don’t we?”

Soobin opens his mouth, but Slorians starts to ramble about the qualifications required for a professional Quidditch player and what the tryouts are like. He gets so far in his advice that five minutes in, Soobin doesn’t think he has the heart to let him down.

Still, this is getting out of hand. Yes, he likes flying. Yes, Quidditch sounds like fun. But this is Soobin’s life. Not Nott’s. Not Slorians’. “Sir,” he dares, when Slorians finally stops to take a large breath. 

Slorians pauses, so Soobin takes the opportunity to stand up and move the most offending pile of books onto another towering stack. When he sits back down, he looks at Slorians plainly. “Sir, uh, we don’t fill out the career forms until next term. I hadn’t thought about it a lot yet.”

“Oh,” Slorians breathes. “So Quidditch…”

“I think I might try out for it next year,” Soobin offers. “I’m interested in teaching, though. I think. I mean, it seems like something I’d like.”

“_Oh,_” Slorians says, swelling with energy again. “Well, which subjects do you like?”

“They’re all… nice,” Soobin answers mildly, wishing he had said that he wanted to die after graduation instead.

“Well, I ask because if you’d like to teach a good subject, you’ll want good OWL and NEWT scores in that subject!” says Slorians, now fishing in a side drawer through more stacks of papers. “Teacher… professor… coach… tutor…” With each title, he flops a new pamphlet down on his desk, then tosses them to Soobin. “There you are. You can look at them before the new term! Get a head start before all of the other pamphlets start bothering you all at once. You don’t want to suddenly get mixed up in Herbology stuff, do you?”

Soobin doesn’t mention that he rather likes Herbology. “Um… I sort of like art,” he mentions. “During the summer I take art classes at home. Muggle art. I like mosaics.”

“Mosaics,” Slorians repeats, like it's a foreign word.

Large mugs of tea come sliding onto Slorians’ desk and Soobin’s side table. Soobin takes the handle, keeping a watchful eye on the near-overflowing contents.

“Well, if you’d like to be a professor—” Slorians starts again, once Soobin has taken a sip of tea. “—perhaps a professor of _ flying_, you’ll want to do well in your Flying class, of course. And the obvious choice would be to teach at one of the Wizarding schools… Hogwarts would give you preference as an applicant, of course, except that Professor Nott intends to be with us for a long time, and I would not have it any other way. I imagine Ilvermorny and Mahoutokoro would be great for you particularly, but Ilvermorny has just hired a new Flying teacher themselves and I’m afraid Japan is in a bit of a post-broom revolution right now. God knows if they’re ever going to hire again. 

“What you _ can _ do,” Slorians continues mischievously, leaning closer. He seems to have forgotten about Soobin’s interest in art entirely. “Is teach at a private broom flying school. NEWTs are okay for that, but if you reckon you’re _ really _ good, you can get a lot of money later if you get some excellent real-life experience first. Which brings me back to—”

Soobin is sure that Slorians is about to land home with “being a professional Quidditch player,” but just then, the door of the Headmaster’s office groans and rotates far below. 

Slorians falls silent, listening to a trio of footsteps ascending the stairs. “They’re here,” he says softly, as if not quite believing it.

“Uh. Who, sir?” asks Soobin.

“Trouble,” he answers, getting to his feet. “Say nothing, Mr. Choi. And do not give us away.”

_ Give us away? _Soobin stares incredulously. That makes it sound like Soobin and Slorians have a secret— and Soobin is pretty certain that they have no such thing together.

He turns to look as the nearer door finally opens, bringing with it the navy-robed figures of three adults, all of whom look very Korean. Soobin stares open-mouthed at them, recognizing the large vertical insignias on their breast pockets. **마법부**. The Division of Magic.

The whiplash of code-switching has never hit him so hard. He stands up at once, bowing several times, greeting them clearly in Korean, and making only polite eye contact.

The cropped-haired woman in front, evidently the most senior of the group, acknowledges Soobin, compelling him to sit once more. In light, accent-twinged English, she says, “Pardon the interruption, Headmaster.”

“Not a problem, Ms. Na,” Slorians replies evenly, bouncing on his soles and looking the trio over. “How may I help you?”

“We’ve come with a warrant,” says Ms. Na. The tall, gangly boy to her right who couldn’t be a few years older than Soobin deposits a roll of parchment into Ms. Na’s waiting hand. “For the arrest of Yeonjun Choi. We have reason to believe that he is a student here at your school.”

Soobin couldn’t have heard right. “Yeon—”

Slorians loudly cuts him off. “Yeonjun Choi is not a student here,” he states very clearly. And though he does not look at Soobin, Soobin can tell that it’s meant more for him than the officials. “I would certainly know, wouldn’t I?”

Ms. Na nods politely. “Still, I must request to see the official student files.” She hands the roll to Slorians for emphasis.

Soobin tries to get a look at the words through the underside of the parchment, but it’s no use. All he can see is the stamp of the Division of Magic inked on the back in red.

After reading with a calculated neutrality, Slorians nods. “By all means,” he grants pleasantly, setting down the parchment and sweeping past them. 

Ms. Na follows, carefully stepping over what Soobin realizes are puncture holes in the floor. He would chalk it up to just another quirk of Slorians’ messy office, but as Slorians approaches a large, stately dresser, Soobin remembers: Kai helped Slorians move an anti-magic dresser the day before he went missing.

Slorians pulls out a stack of parchment and points Ms. Na to the correct page. The remaining two officials stay put, focused on the student files and occasionally side-eyeing Soobin with interest.

“As you can see, we have three students named Choi,” Slorians states, leaning on the dresser casually. He gestures to Soobin. “Soobin here and Beomgyu and Daniel.”

Ms. Na gives Soobin a mildly appraising look, frowning slightly as she refers to the parchment again. “You are aware of the reason for the boy’s arrest?” she asks, hardly masking her disappointment.

Slorians matches her defeated look. “Yes, I attend meetings,” he replies dully, sliding the files back into the dresser and locking the drawer with a hefty turn and tug of a key. “Admittedly, I still cannot understand why a son must undergo investigation for his father’s actions.”

“And we cannot understand why an innocent person would run from the law.”

Once again, Soobin’s mind is rendered blank. Yeonjun is being pursued by the Korean Division of Magic? Why? What could his father have possibly done?

He feels Slorians’ eyes on him as he comes back to his desk. _ Stop making faces, _ he mouths before sitting at his desk once more. “Well, as you can see, I am in a meeting with a student,” he says plainly, gesturing vaguely at Soobin, who now concocts what he hopes is an innocent smile. “Is your warrant satisfied that _ that boy _does not exist within this castle?”

_ ‘That boy.’ _ Soobin picks at his nails nervously. Why are they speaking about Yeonjun like he’s a _ delinquent? _

_ ‘Run from the law.’ _ That’s insane. That’s insane! Yeonjun is a _ Hogwarts _ student. Are they suggesting that he was involved in criminal activity prior to the age of 11? Or are they saying that he’s been doing it in his free time between classes? Both options fill Soobin with pinched rage. Yeonjun has been working so hard. He cries over exams, plays for Quidditch, and helps run Dueling Club just because his friend asked him to. He wants to be a singer— wants to be in musicals, for God’s sake.

_ “I just hate dealing with the Dark Arts.” _ That’s what Yeonjun said.

This is absolutely ridiculous.

“_Hey_,” calls the last official in Korean. Soobin looks up at her. She looks to be his sister’s age, though much taller and more intimidating. Once he meets her eyes, she starts to speak very quickly but clearly. “_The person we’re looking for is suspected of committing treason against the Republic of Korea. You can send word to our ministry if you know his whereabouts. _”

Halfway through her speech, Slorians realizes what’s going on and stands up in outrage, roaring, “You shall _ not _ speak to my student without my permission and you shall _ only _ speak English so that I may oversee your unsolicited presence within these grounds!”

He punctuates his shouting by slamming his fist on the desk, whose many precariously-stacked books clatter to the floor violently, but it’s too late. The damage has been done.

Yeonjun is a suspected criminal? Soobin stares wide-eyed at the official, still attempting to train his face into something less transparent. _Don't react. Don't react._

Still, it's hard not to zone in on it. Soobin's been making excuse after excuse to prove Yeonjun a truthful person, but maybe this is it.

_ Occam’s Razor. _

_ Yeonjun is not who he says he is. _

“Our deepest apologies,” says Ms. Na, who doesn’t sound sorry. “Thank you for helping us.”

Soobin feels as though Ms. Na has left a small earthquake in her wake. The spilled books from Slorians’ desk certainly complete the picture.

As the last official leaves, the woman who spoke to Soobin offers one more statement. “We’ll be back for the book.”

And just like that, they’re gone.

Soobin sits quite still, staring at his shoes. The laces are getting worn. He should buy new ones soon.

He is vaguely aware of Slorians moving around the desk to lean back on it in front of him.

They sit in silence. When it is clear that Slorians does not intend to speak first, Soobin closes his eyes, wishing he would wake up. “Are you going to erase my memory?”

“Would you like me to erase your memory?” Slorians asks gently.

Soobin considers this. The Gryffindor in him says, of _ course _ not. And… well… of _ course _ not. 

_ Still_. 

“Why are you hiding Yeonjun?”

“His father asked me to.”

“Is his father guilty?”

“Well now,” Slorians chuckles. “That’s the question, isn’t it?”

“Is _ Yeonjun_—” 

Soobin looks up to Slorians gesturing for him to stop. “They’re both good people. Hongnak and Daniel.”

It’s then that Soobin remembers: Taehyun mentioned that Kai was investigating something about Yeonjun’s dad.

Slorians goes on. “That’s the most I can say, Mr. Choi. If you’re good friends with Daniel, and I reckon you are, you’d be an even better friend if you kept quiet about this. The matter will be resolved before he graduates and I won’t let that Korean Ministry get him, so you needn’t worry, alright?”

Soobin shakes his head, which now pounds with too much all at once. “My memory,” he mumbles, because it’s the only reasonable thing he can think to say.

“Memory charms are possibly the worst invention in the history of magic. No one should be forced to forget. No one should make themselves forget.” Slorians tilts his head, eyeing Soobin so directly that he almost feels naked. “Do not hide from the things that happen to you. Do not hide from the things that are real. Do you understand?”

Before Soobin realizes it, tears well up and fall embarrassingly down his cheeks. He turns away shamefully with a surprised noise, wiping his face with his sleeve. He can’t understand it. What’s come over him?

“Here,” says Slorians, and Soobin feels a large handkerchief pushed into his hands. He gratefully buries himself in it, trying to get a grip but losing it further and further. 

_ What is wrong with me? _ he wonders, quietly shaking and taking wracking breaths. _ I was fine. I was fine and everything was fine. _

But everything is not fine.

“I’m so worried about Kai,” he croaks suddenly, and oh, _ there _ it is.

He is so afraid for Kai. He’s been trying to keep him out of his mind, trying to distract himself, but it’s only made his stress worse. What if Kai’s been kidnapped and tortured or killed? The horrible options swirl in on Soobin, renewing his tears. 

“I wanted to talk to you about it,” he chokes, still hiding his face behind the handkerchief. “But I couldn’t.”

A pause hangs between them before Slorians says, “I know it can’t make you feel much better, but I cried over it, too.” 

Soobin looks up, his tears waning as sympathy takes hold.

“I did not protect my student. And I know it can’t make you feel much better, but I’m doing everything in my power to find him.” Slorians looks away, playing with one of the flaps on the tea box display. “Have you been to the Restricted Section of the library?”

Soobin gives a slight nod.

“There’s a journal that everybody’s been eager to get their hands on.”

_ ‘We’ll be back for the book.’ _

Soobin blinks, the last of his tears dribbling over. “A journal?”

Slorians nods. “In it, you will find a collection of student theses.”

_ ‘Choi Hongnak used to be a special student of Professor Aadnevik’s. She oversaw his seventh-year thesis.’ _

“The one you’re looking for is called _ Hang the Stars and Take Them Down: A Wizard’s Humble Guide to Creating and Destroying Worlds. Complete With Spells.” _He steps away from the tea display, rounding his desk. “And Mr. Choi?”

Soobin just stares.

Slorians sinks into his chair, smiling tiredly. “Write art on your career form next term.”

* * *

Soobin endures dinner that evening in the company of his thoughts, breaking out of his haze now and again to make a show of normalcy to Namjoon and Adora, his seventh-year friends. When he unwittingly glances at the Slytherin table, he of course finds Yeonjun smiling and joking with his friends, looking a lot brighter and happier than Soobin has seen him in awhile.

And he might be a Korean traitor. _ Or an accomplice to a traitor, _ Soobin reminds himself miserably, turning back to his plate. He stabs his rib-eye steak with a fork and stares at it blankly. What could Choi Hongnak have done to get his son involved like this? And this thesis… the _ journal _ or _ book _ that the Korean Division of Magic is looking for…

Could Kai have been looking for it, too?

Soobin sets his fork down, putting his head in his hands. Then was Kai trying to incriminate Yeonjun? Or was he trying to exonerate him? Or even steal it for him?

_ No, they were at each other’s throats. They had to be on opposing sides, somehow. _

And God, what the hell does Aadnevik have to do with it?

_ ‘Aadnevik, uh, likes me.’ _

She likes Yeonjun. So what? Aadnevik likes Soobin, too. Still, if Yeonjun’s dad was Aadnevik’s special student… maybe Yeonjun is her special student, too.

“Hyung.”

Soobin snaps out of it to find Taehyun leaning over the table. “Hey,” he says gruffly, still holding his head.

“Taehyun, I missed you!” Adora coos with a smile. “Are you getting your post again?”

“Yeah,” Taehyun complains, probably still fuming over his brother’s unhelpful letter. “Wonjun is ridiculous. He’s an absolute menace.”

“Welcome to my life,” Adora laughs. “This is the first time in years that my post isn’t filled with ‘uwu’ and doodle winky faces.”

Namjoon looks affronted. “_I_write you ‘uwu’ and doodle winky faces.”

“Oh joy,” Adora deadpans. “I forgot that I still get paper airplane notes from _this_ _one_.” She flings a half-hearted finger Namjoon’s way, then sinks her teeth back into a crab cake.

Namjoon is shocked to the point of speechlessness. 

Soobin has the heart to grin at Taehyun, who smiles amusedly before remembering himself. “Wait, did you guys see? The Division of Magic visited.”

“The what?” says Namjoon, who is the only one of them to have not spent any time in Korea growing up.

“The Korean Division of Magic,” Taehyun repeats. “Three of them. I’m sure they’re banned from interviewing anyone, but they were looking really close at Asian students.”

“What the hell?” Adora mumbles through her food indignantly. “Were they looking for someone?”

“Probably just international relations,” Soobin diverts.

“They were looking for someone,” Taehyun insists, giving Soobin a meaningful look.

Soobin could laugh at the irony of it now that he’s even deeper into the conspiracy than Taehyun was. Still, he’s impressed that Taehyun has gotten this far. 

Instead of answering one way or another, he shrugs. This proves to be a far more mutinous reaction, as Taehyun goes back to his seat and ignores him for the rest of dinner.

After dinner, as the students file out of the Great Hall, bellies full and bodies warmed, Soobin scans the Slytherins, who patter down a corridor toward their territory. He separates from Namjoon and Adora to follow them, jumping now and again to try and catch a glimpse of…

Yeonjun. His thick black hair stands out in a sea of browns and blondes. He almost thinks to call out, ‘Yeonjun!’ but thinks better of it. What if the Division of Magic managed to tip off students? 

He thinks of calling ‘Daniel!’ instead, but that feels wrong, too. Yeonjun just told him that he prefers his Korean name. What explanation would Soobin have for suddenly using his English name?_ ‘Oh, I didn’t wanna get you into trouble. The Korean Division of Magic has a warrant for your arrest.’ _

Yeah, right. Slorians told Soobin that he had it under control— that Soobin should keep quiet.

So there he stands, mouth slack, saying nothing instead. He watches Yeonjun disappear in the crowd, his hair disappearing from view.

_ Didn’t Kai show me a shortcut to the Slytherin Dungeon? _

Soobin lights up.

He runs through a side corridor, recalling one of his adventures with Kai when he showed him a narrow passage connecting a defunct girls’ bathroom to the basement just outside the Slytherin Dungeon. He can definitely beat Yeonjun there.

The trek turns out to be easier when it’s not nearing curfew. There’s actually enough light for Soobin to retrace his steps without tripping or wondering if he’s going to get lost.

He makes it to the end of the narrow passage no wider than his torso and peers out at the scattered Slytherins slumping downstairs and entering their Common Room in chattering friend groups. 

A few minutes later, Soobin recognizes the distinctive voice of Yeonjun, who descends the stairs with Ksenia Bure at his heels.

Soobin’s smile fades. He recalls Ksenia and Yeonjun acting close at Duelement. Could they be dating?

Ksenia murmurs the password, at which the door swings open for her.

Soobin distantly realizes that this is his last chance. “Yeonjun!” he whisper-yells.

Yeonjun jumps in surprise. Upon finding Soobin sticking out a hand from a shadowed passage, he grins and says something to Ksenia before casually hurrying over to Soobin’s hiding place. “Come here often?” he jokes, slipping into the passage.

Soobin scoots back to make room, his heart suddenly jumping at having Yeonjun so close to him. “Funny,” he says dryly.

“So what’s up?” breathes Yeonjun, fixing him with a direct stare.

Soobin suddenly hesitates, remembering all that he heard about Yeonjun in Slorians’ office.

“Did Slorians tell you something?” Yeonjun murmurs quietly, as if reading his mind.

Soobin is reminded of how Slorians told him to ‘stop making faces.’ _ Am I that much of an open book? _“No,” he lies, trying to mask his natural expression with naivety.

Yeonjun scans his eyes. “What’s up, then?”

“I forgot something.”

Yeonjun considers him again, this time smiling and shaking his head. “No, you didn’t. Your apology was nice. There’s nothing left for you to…”

But there is. Soobin takes a small breath. He has been putting this off for weeks and months, giving himself every excuse in the book to not do it. And yeah, it’s probably not going to work, but Beomgyu’s advice and Kai’s bravery are stirring in him.

“Do you have a date to the Yule Ball?” he asks quietly.

It’s insane. Absolutely insane. Three days before the Yule Ball and he is asking Choi Yeonjun to be his date. Choi Yeonjun. His date. He’s probably, no, _ definitely _ been asked by ten girls, and he probably asked Ksenia because hey, she’s pretty and Russian and plays good Quidditch. 

Yeonjun has his choice of anyone. There is absolutely zero percent chance that he doesn’t already have a ridiculously pretty, uber-popular date to match his own reputation.

“No.”

Well.

Fuck.

Soobin can’t mask his surprised expression. Yeonjun crosses his arms expectantly.

“Do you, uh,” Soobin attempts, losing his composure. He didn’t think he’d get this far. What the fuck is he doing? Asking Choi Yeonjun to be his date? This is even worse. This is so much worse. “You wanna go me?” 

It hits him milliseconds later that he used Neanderthal English, but Yeonjun doesn’t seem to notice. “I don’t know.”

_ ‘I don’t know.’ _

Soobin’s mouth falls open.

Yeonjun lightly kicks his shin. “‘Cause I’m performing. I have to be backstage early and by the time I’m done, it’ll be like halfway through. You’d be alone for all of that time.”

Soobin gives him another dumb look.

“Singing,” Yeonjun clarifies.

“That’s _ awesome_,” says Soobin, who is pretty sure that he has never used ‘awesome’ in his life and never wants to use it again. “I mean, that’s great. Uh. Yeah.”

And despite his attempts to seem put-together and sure of himself, Soobin looks straight down at his toes, closing his eyes as his ears burn. Jesus God, this was a terrible, terrible idea.

“Soobinie?” Yeonjun asks, touching his arm.

It’s all too much. Yeonjun not quite saying yes but not quite saying no, Yeonjun calling him Soobinie, Yeonjun touching him. “Sorry,” he trembles, covering his traitorous face. “This is really embarrassing.”

A low giggle rumbles in Yeonjun’s throat, causing Soobin to laugh nervously. “Sorry, I should’ve said something definite,” Yeonjun says. “I’ll go with you if you don’t mind all that. I was just worried you might get upset if I’m gone half the time.”

Soobin nods, part of him elated that Yeonjun wants to go with him and another part devastated that it’s happening like this. “Yes. Okay. Go together,” he stutters, painfully releasing his face. 

_ Are you really a Gryffindor? Look up. _

Soobin takes a deep breath and obeys himself, meeting Yeonjun’s starry eyes. “Okay,” he says, hardly recognizing his own voice. It sounds low.

“Okay,” Yeonjun replies, his voice also edging on something far too familiar for two friends chatting in a narrow hallway.

And then, for a moment, there’s nothing except them. Soobin is drowning in Yeonjun’s eyes and his pretty, pretty mouth is right there.

Yeonjun wants to go to the ball with him. He must at least like boys then, right? Soobin swallows. He may have gotten advice from Beomgyu and bravery from Kai, but he can’t imagine that either of them has ever stood inches from Choi Yeonjun in a cramped passage. The brain doesn’t exactly light up with fantastic things to say.

He doesn’t have to say anything. All he has to do is kiss him.

But damn it, why isn’t _ Yeonjun _ leaning in? Does he not want to kiss Soobin? Is he just agreeing to go to the Yule Ball with him as a favor? Maybe he turned down 100 suitors because he didn’t want any resentful dates. Maybe he was expecting Soobin to change his mind, too. Maybe Soobin would turn out to be the biggest burden of the night for Yeonjun. _ ‘Oh my God, do you think he’s still waiting for me? _’ he might groan to another singer backstage.

Soobin steels himself, willing away the anxiety and looking at Yeonjun’s lips. 

_ ‘You say _ but _ and you keep the cycle going,’ _ Beomgyu said weeks ago.

No buts. 

No ifs.

_ I’m gonna kiss him. _

Soobin leans in.

_ Did Kai feel like this, too? _

He stops just a few inches short, guilt washing over him in waves that bring him to a staggering halt.

He can’t kiss Yeonjun. Not like _ this. _

_ I have to find Kai. _

_ I have to read that thesis. _

Yeonjun lowers his eyes almost imperceptibly. With a gentle movement, he leans in and presses a soft kiss to Soobin’s cheek, just half an inch from his mouth. “Night,” he whispers against his skin.

Soobin watches him disappear into the corridor and leans back on the wall, slapping his hands to his face and spitting curses at himself.

What is wrong with him?

_ Nothing, _ he reasons, letting his hands fall and looking up at the darkening ceiling. _ This is just real. _

He might stand there for ten seconds or ten minutes, and as he finally starts to come back to himself, a little twinge of excitement allows itself to breathe inside of him. 

Even as his questions about Yeonjun’s dad and Kai’s disappearance multiply, Soobin decides that it’ll be left for tomorrow.

Today is his. He’s taking Choi Yeonjun to the Yule Ball. He won’t let anyone, least of all himself, lessen that victory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/godtyun) or [cc](https://curiouscat.me/godtyun)!  
weekly updates!


	29. Christmas Eve

The first thing that registers is darkness. Not the bleary, void-of-all-color darkness that he doesn’t know has been gripping him for some time now, but the soothing, easy darkness of a navy midnight.

Then the landscape comes into focus. Deep, eerily still water expands to the edges of his field of vision, lined by rocky shore. The lake is overseen only by himself and the starry, starry sky.

Kai looks down. He feels the silky-soft t-shirt as he registers its appearance, white and flowy, gently tucked into even milkier white shorts that almost hit his knees. He experimentally wiggles his toes, which are invisible under the opaque water that laps at his calves. They curl into thick mud.

He takes a breath as if for the first time in a millennium. The cool air fills his lungs in a great rush, his eyes nearly welling up with tears at the sensation.

_ I don’t know why I’m here, _ thinks Kai. At least, he thinks his name is Kai. No, he knows his name is Kai. Kai Kamal… Huening. Huening, for his father. 

_ “You woke up.” _

Kai looks up. He’s sure that the voiceless sentiment came from the sky. “What is this place?” he asks, feeling microscopic under the vast heavens.

_ “Soobin’s dream.” _

Soobin.

_ Soobin_.

Kai intakes a sharp breath. Memories like projector slides click through his mind at a pace that would knock him off his feet, if only he could move his legs.

He knows how he got here. His last registered memory is still clear as if it only happened seconds ago: Beomgyu falling to his knees and a classroom washing away with heavy sleep. “I have to wake up,” he says.

_ “You are awake.” _

“No, no, I’m _ not,_” he insists, frustration welling up in him. “This isn’t _ real_. It’s just a loophole in the sleep curse." He pauses, the urgency of the matter hitting him like a slap. “Wait, what day is it?”

_ “December 24th.” _

He inhales sharply._ The Yule Ball is tomorrow. I still have time to wake up. _ “Why am I awake? Why here, why now?” he suddenly asks, wondering if the reason for his existence here might also help him to escape.

_ “It seems that Soobin needs you and you are in a position to attend to that need.” _

_I need to warn Soobin._ “Then I should really wake up!” shouts Kai. A knot forms in his throat at another possibility. “Or am I dead after all?”

A piercing ring reverberates through the landscape, forcing Kai to clap his hands over his ears. He closes his eyes, wishing that he were dead rather than endure this. He feels as though his eardrums could burst. He can’t even scream.

And then it settles all at once. Kai’s vision goes intensely blurry and a bubble expands in his throat.

When he gazes out onto the water again, he sees a figure standing partially submerged in the center of the lake, head bowed and face dipping into the surface.

_ Soobin, _ he tries, but his mouth goes numb. He can’t form the syllables. 

The navy midnight is weighing on him again. Sludge entering him from his toes creeps up his calves. _ No_, he starts, looking at the stars. _ He’s here. I need time to get to him! _

_ “You’re a wizard, aren’t you?” _

_ I don’t have a wand. _

_ “But it's like you said, isn't it.” _

_ It’s a loophole. _ Kai snaps his gaze to Soobin as it clicks. _ I can bend my abilities. I can perform magic without a wand. _ The sludge rises steadily, but he has a little time.

Though it scares him, he closes his eyes and wills intense concentration, emptying his mind of extraneous panic. The sludge roils in his knees, prickling his nerves.

_ Rennervate_, he commands, picturing the movement of the spell in his mind as he stares at Soobin’s bowed head. 

Soobin remains still as a statue.

_ Rennervate_, Kai thinks again. _ I’m here, Soobin. Wake up._

_ RENNERVATE._

Soobin stirs. But rather than jump and gasp, like Kai is sure that Soobin would do in this situation, he simply picks his head up, his bangs surfacing dry as a bone.

_ Look at me, _ Kai commands. _ Soobin, look at me. _

But Soobin’s profile is all he gets to see. Soobin appears to be focused on something ahead of him. 

Kai looks to the rocks. A shiver runs through him as a spectral image of a boy in hanbok gazes back at Soobin. It’s Yeonjun_._

_S__oobin,_ he thinks more desperately. _Look at me!_

Soobin turns to his right gently, almost dazedly. This time, Kai sees the wispy image of a pair of boys standing on an overhang of rocks. Beomgyu and Taehyun. 

Kai’s pulse picks up in anticipation as Soobin then turns another 90 degrees to fixate on a girl, whom Kai does not recognize, kneeling at the edge of the water.

_ He’s going to look at me next. _ _He’s going to look at me. _

But Soobin spends far more time looking at this girl, whose arm beckons to Soobin in a ghostly breeze. His expression, which until this point was dreamily relaxed, tightens. Soobin is trying to move, his chest expanding and contracting with great effort.

The water around him stirs. 

And even though Kai has never entered someone else's dream before, the consequence of Soobin affecting his dream's motionless landscape seems obvious.

_Stop or you’ll wake up! __Soobin! _ he tries to scream, begging his mouth to cooperate.

Soobin stares at the girl, his expression varying on its own, almost as if he’s having a conversation with her.

_ Look at me, _ begs Kai. _ Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. _

Sweat forms on his forehead as a force pushes through him, creating a deep chasm in his chest that bleeds deep navy through his shirt.

_It's not real. I'm not dying,_ he reminds himself, pushing down panic as his voice returns to him all at once. “Look at me!” he shouts, the words finally tumbling from his throat and striking the air and the water, which quivers at the force of his words.

Soobin blinks, then turns to Kai.

He screams himself hoarse. “I’m here! I’m alive! Stop moving!”

Soobin stares at him, then jolts upright as his eyes glaze over.

“No!” shouts Kai. 

> “No more snoozing. It’s Wednesday, December 24th…”

Soobin’s roommate must be waking him.

“Stay here!” Kai yells, feeling his own consciousness fading fast. “It _ flies! _ It…”

* * *

“No more snoozing. It’s Wednesday, December 24th,” Yuuto begins loudly. “The weather is ‘Dear Jesus, my savior, if it’s going to be this cold then you might as well make it snow. I’d really like to take Laura Hall out to Hogsmeade.’”

Soobin turns over in bed. “Flies,” he grumbles.

“Flies?” repeats Yuuto distractedly. “Where?”

Soobin opens his eyes to Yuuto examining himself in the mirror. “You look nice,” he mumbles, blinking away sleep as he sits up.

Yuuto hides a smile that is still plainly seen through the reflection and puffs out his chest a little. “Hm. So where are they?” he asks, tucking his hoodie in before untucking it decidedly and turning to Soobin.

“Where are what?” Soobin asks blankly.

“The _ flies_."

"Flies? Do we have flies?" asks Soobin while rising from bed. The other beds are empty, meaning that he has overslept yet again for the top of breakfast. He reaches for the nearest jumper and jeans that he can find on his heap of clean-ish laundry on the floor.

"_Funny_," Yuuto sasses before making his way out. “I’m going down first. Zap the flies yourself if you see them.”

As Yuuto exits, leaving the door cracked open, Soobin finishes buttoning his jeans, looking around vaguely for flies but getting distracted by the sounds filtering through the door.

So without much thought to it, he grabs his wand and a bomber coat, checks over his appearance in the mirror, and skips out the door.

_ It’s Christmas Eve, _he realizes with a little smile.

Behind that primary happy realization is a secondary thought.

_ Kai still isn’t back. _

Soobin hops down the stairs, his stomach sinking guiltily. How did Kai’s parents feel when they woke up today of all days, wondering where in the world their son might be— wondering if he’s even alive?

_ But he _ is _ alive, _ Soobin reasons as he navigates the moving staircases. _ I saw him. _

He drops onto a stair and stops, this thought suddenly shooting confusion through him. _ I saw him? How? How did I see him? _

A body of water flashes into his mind. He shivers._ Déjà vu._

Just then, a jolt of movement underneath his feet nearly takes him out, and he shortly realizes that the staircase is moving already. “Ah, stop!” he pleads, quickly hopping down the stairs again.

With only a few minutes’ delay, he manages to get to the marble staircase leading down to the Entrance Hall, though at this point there really is no one left hanging around the corridors. _ Breakfast might be over soon, _he realizes with a pout, dropping the stairs slowly now at this thought.

Just as he makes it halfway down, quick footsteps descend from behind him, making him jump as Yeonjun slaps his shoulder with a cheeky smile. “Hey.”

Soobin can't help but smile back. “Hey.” When a few more brain cells rejoin him, he nods upstairs. “Where are you coming from?” Surely Yeonjun isn't coming from the Slytherin dorms, which are located in the dungeons.

“The library,” Yeonjun imparts, now descending in unison with Soobin. “I wanted to try checking out a book one last time since they’re closed tomorrow.”

“'One last time?'”

“There’s a book I’ve been looking for.”

_Huh._ “Did you find it?”

“Nope." Yeonjun jumps over the final four steps and lands with a loud thud, his hands disappearing into his blazer pockets. He looks up at Soobin with a shrug, though his expression betrays some tension. “But it’s okay. I’ll get it soon.”

Soobin reaches the bottom, considering him with a carefully blank expression. _ Does Yeonjun mean…? _ Soobin remembers Slorians telling him about the journal that the Korean Ministry was after. 

Could Yeonjun be looking for his dad’s thesis? “What kind of—”

“Soobin!” A bright, familiar voice cuts through the air, stopping Soobin dead.

Yeonjun's eyes widen.

The two of them turn to the source. There, beaming, black-haired, and striding toward them from a side corridor, is Beomgyu. “Surprise.”

Soobin’s jaw drops in shock. “What are you doing here?” he asks, disbelieving that Beomgyu is here all of a sudden. It gives Soobin hope that Kai might appear out of the blue, too. “And your hair…!”

“I was getting tired of blonde,” Beomgyu sighs, approaching them with a cheeky smile. “What's up, Daniel?”

Soobin glances at Yeonjun, whose expression is surely surprised but also marked with tension. “You're back.”

Beomgyu smiles vaguely. “Yeah. My grandpa made it through his surgery okay, so I thought I'd come back.”

“But I thought you weren’t ready,” Yeonjun points out, smiling a little and furrowing his brows in light concern.

"I _am_ ready."

Soobin blinks, looking between the Slytherin friends with the creeping sensation that they are silently dueling about something far above Soobin’s understanding. “Um,” he starts. “I’m glad your grandpa’s okay.”

Beomgyu bumps Soobin’s arm with his own. “Thanks. He’s only 68, anyway. He’ll be kicking around for a while. What about Taehyun, though?” he asks, now looking worried. “Is he really mad at me?”

Instead of dealing with the whiplash of the conversation, Soobin focuses on the immediate question that he can understand. “Uh, yeah, he’s pretty pissed,” he says, his brain working like sludge. “You really should’ve sent him an owl.”

“I know,” says Beomgyu, now looking at Yeonjun again with a crack in his eased demeanor. “Major, _ major _ oversight.”

Soobin catches Yeonjun shrugging minutely. 

_ What the _ hell _ is going on? _“Well… do your best. I think he’s really upset.”

“Yeah,” Beomgyu utters before shooting Yeonjun another pointed look. “Off I go, then.”

And, with a hopeful wave, he leaves them, pushing through the doors of the Great Hall to a reaction of surprised shouts and greetings. Soobin hears him calling back to his friends “Surprise!” just as he did to Soobin and Yeonjun.

Soobin shakes his head. “He’s got a flair for drama, but Taehyun’s gonna kill him.”

“Do you think they’ll break up again?”

“I don’t think so,” Soobin decides. “They care about each other way too much. Don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” Yeonjun concedes softly. “Yeah.”

Soobin pats Yeonjun’s shoulder. The gesture is a little stiff, but it at least earns him a little smile. “Are you good?”

Yeonjun shrugs. “It’s… fine. I’m fine.” 

He sounds anything but fine, but Soobin does not point this out. Instead, he steps up to one of the doors, curiously cracking it open to peek at the Ravenclaw table. Just as he catches sight of Taehyun staring at his plate resolutely, Beomgyu makes his approach. “Oh, he’s going for it,” he narrates to Yeonjun quietly.

He feels the warmth and closeness of Yeonjun stepping up right behind him to watch and his hand ghosting over the small of Soobin’s back.

Beomgyu slows down next to Taehyun. He must say something, because Taehyun finally looks up. 

“Oh?” Soobin sounds softly, waiting with wide eyes.

A moment passes with the couple looking at each other. Then, in one swift movement, Beomgyu kneels on the bench and pulls Taehyun into a tight hug.

Soobin’s forehead knocks into the door gently. “Good,” he murmurs.

After another moment, Taehyun’s arms wrap around Beomgyu’s back, too.

Soobin smiles gently. “Yes,” he whispers in congratulations.

He glances back to see Yeonjun’s reaction. Yeonjun sets his chin on Soobin’s shoulder, looking wary and shiny-eyed. Soobin forgets to breathe at how beautiful Yeonjun is up close and almost painfully resists the urge to just lean over a few inches and kiss his face. 

As if sensing the change of Soobin's thoughts, Yeonjun meets his eyes. “I’m excited for tomorrow,” he says in almost a whisper.

Soobin tries to swallow, but a boulder-sized lump in his throat seems to be preventing such an action, so he just nods. “Are you wearing your dress robes to perform?” he asks, trying to pose it as a real, curious question and not the desperate attempt to quell his transparent affection that it really is.

“Nope,” says Yeonjun, popping the “P.” This, unfortunately, only worsens Soobin’s problem, as it emphasizes the shape of his very kissable mouth.

Soobin looks away and hums affirmatively and distractedly.

He hears Yeonjun’s smile in his voice. “You’ll see. Just make sure you don’t clash with green.”

Soobin turns to Yeonjun, feeling affronted. “Who says I’ll clash?”

Yeonjun looks down.

Soobin follows suit, only having to briefly examine his outfit, which is completely mismatched. His ears now positively burning, he stutters, “Um. Okay. My dress robes are dark grey, so, um…”

Yeonjun lets out a bright, nasal giggle. “You’re cute.”

Soobin presses his lips together, hard. It occurs to him that although he gave his apology with great focus on delivering straightforward feelings to Yeonjun, he hasn’t confessed the most potent of them.

And there Yeonjun is again, giving him that soft, appraising look. “What?”

Soobin stares back, his voice nearly forgotten. “I—”

At that exact moment, the door is swung inward from right beneath Soobin’s grip, causing him to totter off-balance and only just catch himself before he can completely fall. He throws an arm around Yeonjun to keep him from falling too, but he’s pretty sure this does not help.

Still, Yeonjun just laughs as Yuuto reveals himself behind the door. “What are you…?” he trails off, looking between Yeonjun and Soobin and raising his eyebrows to an impossible height. “_Oh_,” he says knowingly.

Soobin feels his face go very hot and shakes his head with a tiny, vigorous movement. “Um, no—”

“Oh ho,” Yuuto says again, stepping back. “Oh my. You confessed, then?”

Soobin freezes. How could he forget. 

> _ "Oh, and that Ravenclaw kid is calling for you. He said be out in five wearing snow trousers or he'll tell Daniel Choi that you're in love with him." _

He shoots Yuuto a desperate look, but his roommate only whistles and goes right back into the Great Hall, strolling toward the Gryffindor table toward a curious-eyed Laura Hall.

Soobin watches him, horrified, and clutches onto the doorknob, wondering if Apparition might just be possible if he were mortified enough.

“Uh. Soobin,” comes Yeonjun’s quiet voice, and Soobin realizes with a horrible shock that he’s still got one hand pressed to Yeonjun’s side. 

He jerks away reflexively and, without looking at him, chokes out, “I left my wand.” 

And then he’s off.

Soobin _ runs _ out of the Great Hall, praying to any and all gods to wake him from this nightmare. He leaps up the marble staircase four and five at a time and does not stop running until he reaches the fourth floor on the opposite side of the castle. Only then does he come to a stop, panting hard and covering his face which is now burning hot from both hard exercise and sheer embarrassment. 

“Idiot,” he groans, crumpling against a stone handrail. He feels his wand poking out of his back jean pocket. “_Idiot_.”

* * *

After about 15 minutes of nightmarishly replaying the exact moment that Yuuto outed Soobin’s big, fat crush on Yeonjun, Soobin stares open-mouthed at the wall across from him, his entire body exhausted and numb from the onslaught of mortification.

Yeonjun knows he likes him. _ Fuck_. How did this happen? How could Soobin have possibly let Yuuto run around knowing this information about him? Soobin shakes his head tiredly. He didn’t expect Yuuto to blab given the right circumstances. That’s how this happened.

And then a new realization dawns. Breakfast will be ending soon and then everyone will leave the Great Hall. Yeonjun will be free to roam the castle and hunt Soobin down to confront him about his gross crush.

Soobin cannot let that happen. _ Where can I go? _he wonders, unsteadily getting to his feet and looking out over the moving staircases. He could go to his dorm, but if Yeonjun comes looking for him, he could easily convince Yuuto or, at that rate, any other Gryffindor to let him in. No one is left uncharmed by Daniel Choi.

_ I could go to the library, _he posits, now debating this option. And as he thinks about it more and more, it becomes a sure thing. Yeonjun already went to the library this morning and said that it would be his last time; therefore, he is supremely unlikely to visit again today. Not only that, but Soobin has been meaning to visit the Restricted Section ever since Slorians put it in his mind to look for a particular thesis.

And so he resolves himself, crossing down the staircases carefully and taking the passages that are less traveled just to avoid running into anyone at all. Luckily, as most students are still eating breakfast, he succeeds in this quest.

Upon entering the library, he releases a large breath, still mulling over what is now easily the most embarrassing moment of his Hogwarts career. (The previous first-place holder was a second-year Transfiguration lesson where he accidentally Transfigured his classmate’s ring to become five sizes too small and nearly forced Madam Lo of the Hospital Wing to amputate the girl’s finger as a result.)

Passing one of the several aisles dedicated to Defense Against the Dark Arts, he catches the eye of Theo Kanat, a part-time librarian-scholar of Hogwarts. Kanat, a deep-skinned, petite young man with thick black hair and round cheeks, peeks out of the shelves. “Hello,” he greets. “Happy Christmas Eve. Can I help ya?”

“Oh, no,” Soobin replies politely. “I just wanted to look at the Restricted Section.”

“Do you have a teacher’s note?”

Soobin quiets. “Um, no.”

“Go on, then,” Kanat lilts in his English countryside accent as he reorganizes a shelf nearly 10 feet above him with various swishes of his wand. “You can peer in. Just don’t cross the rope, alright?”

“Okay, thank you.” Soobin quickly adds a “Happy Christmas Eve," and, feeling much more at ease now that he’s in a proper hiding place, crosses down the aisles toward the dark velvet ropes designating the Restricted Section. The stillness of the library presses on him like a comforting blanket and he is reminded of his fondness for quiet book shops and reading spaces, especially when there are no people for him to encounter. Sure enough, he appears to be the only one ridiculous enough to go to the library during Christmas Eve breakfast.

Soobin has only been into the Restricted Section twice: once last year when he checked out an advanced Charms theory book to beef up a final essay for class, and once at the beginning of this year to find a book on controversial Muggle “UFOs” for yet another essay, this time for Professor Aadnevik’s Astronomy class.

Which brings him back to thinking about Kai’s investigation involving Aadnevik. He steps right up to the rope and scans the Restricted Section vaguely. The air feels even thicker with dust, tickling Soobin’s nose.

After sneezing, he hears a delayed “Bless you!” from Kanat from far away.

“Thank you,” Soobin murmurs distractedly, wondering how on Earth a book could be so well-hidden that a talented wizard like Yeonjun couldn't find it after a whole term. “Kanat?” he calls out.

Kanat emerges and skips over to Soobin. “Yes?”

Soobin gestures to the Restricted Section. “Um… are there books in the Restricted Section that might be untitled or mistitled?”

“Certainly,” says Kanat with a shrug. “There’s at least one or two books that change their titles every hour, if they can. We keep a record of the original name, though.”

“What about a book with student theses?”

Kanat narrows his eyes. "What year?"

"Around 1986, maybe," says Soobin, remembering the Quidditch book in which he saw Yeonjun's dad.

Kanat sounds a knowing “ah” and gives a deep sigh, though more pitying than exasperated. "Yeah, we have it."

"Oh," says Soobin plainly, taken aback. "Can I check it out?"

"That's the problem, isn't it?" Kanat grumbles, now frowning intensely at the Restricted Section. "Hasn't been seen since it got shelved in '86. I couldn't get it for you if I tried. Lord knows I've been sweating my ass off this term trying to get it for Daniel Choi, but it just doesn't exist. All of those journals from the '80s are long gone, if you ask me."

Soobin frowns_._

“By the way, I’d like to ask him out, but he’s still a student. Do you know if he has a sweetheart or something like that?”

Soobin turns to Kanat, who gazes back with hopeful, wide eyes. "Um, who?"

Kanat looks around like someone might hear them. He whispers, "Daniel Choi."

“Uh... how old are you?”

Kanat looks affronted. “Only 20. I’m no creep, if that’s what you mean. I’d ask him out after he graduates, of course. So does he have a sweetheart?”

Soobin wonders how he got into this position. "I don't know." Refocusing the conversation, he tries, “Can't you disenchant books or something?”

Kanat snorts. “What would you have me do, cast a spell at every square inch of this place? I'm not _that_ desperate for a sixth-year. Trust me, lad, someone probably checked it out years ago and never returned it."

It sounds reasonable, but Soobin isn't so sure. If Slorians insists that it’s here, then it must be around somewhere, definitely enchanted. He can’t imagine that Yeonjun wouldn’t have found it by now if it were just sitting on a shelf.

He really wishes he could talk to Kai. He sighs, wondering if there’s anything else he can ask Kanat, but the librarian seems just as clueless as Soobin on the matter. Unless... “Is Professor Aadnevik the one signing off on Daniel’s coming here?”

Kanat blinks in surprise. “W-Well, that’s—” He stands up straight, though this means that he’s still shorter than Soobin by half a foot. “That’s _confidential_,” he articulates haughtily.

He stalks off prudently, leaving Soobin behind with a pretty clear answer, though the causality is murky. Yeonjun comes to the Restricted Section with a note from Professor Aadnevik to look for a journal containing his father’s thesis that details the creation and destruction of worlds.

Yeonjun could be using Aadnevik because he knows that she was fond of his father. So then does Yeonjun want the thesis for sentimental reasons? Is he no longer in contact with his father? Or is he after the spells within because of a thirst for the Dark Arts?

_ Definitely not that, _Soobin immediately shoots down. Yeonjun appeared sincere about hating the Dark Arts. He refuses to believe that Yeonjun is some kind of secret dark wizard.

Another option is even murkier. Aadnevik could be the one using Yeonjun to get the thesis of her special former student. But that seems silly. After all, Taehyun said that Aadnevik oversaw Choi Hongnak’s thesis. She would know everything that he wrote. Hell, she probably helped him create the included spells in the first place.

But then, wouldn’t Aadnevik just tell Yeonjun about the spells if he was interested? 

Soobin sneezes again.

Maybe he misinterpreted Kanat’s answer and Aadnevik isn’t really the teacher supplying Yeonjun with permission notes.

Soobin leans his head against the wall, staring out at the shelves. Then, from behind him, a fly zips past his ear, sending shudders through him. He resentfully watches it wander about the Restricted Section in circles and snorts. How do flies even survive down here?

Flies.

…

_ Flies are annoying, _thinks Soobin.

* * *

After camping out at one of the library tables for hours and completing two different books about Muggle art theory, Soobin dozes off and wakes up to the reddish-pink rays of sunset filtering through the tall windows along with a quick, dull pressure on his head. 

“Off you go,” says Kanat, poking Soobin with his wand again. “Christmas Eve hours. We close early.”

Soobin ascends to Gryffindor Tower after stopping by the Owlery to send a letter to his family. His stomach grumbles in complaint at not eating all day, but he ignores the aches, as he has no intention of attending dinner in the Great Hall and risking facing Yeonjun.

_ Still, we’re going to the Yule Ball together, _he realizes grudgingly. He enters his empty dorm room and pulls out some stored chocolates from a past Hogsmeade visit, eating them all and tossing the empty boxes right back under his bed.

_ I’ll talk to him at breakfast, _he resolves, lying on his bed and staring at the one of the wardrobes, where his dark grey dress robes have been hanging for the past two nights. He just can’t get over it: the thought that he’ll be wearing them while dancing with Yeonjun. It’s too strange, too unreal, and too good to be true.

And part of him wonders if it really is too good to be true. In the span of days he has collected many strange puzzle pieces that don’t seem to fit. Some are labeled: YEONJUN, DANIEL, AADNEVIK, SLORIANS, BEOMGYU, KAI, HONGNAK. Some are not labeled at all.

He rests upon the thought of Kai. Tomorrow, Christmas morning, he will wake up and go to breakfast. There, he will talk to Yeonjun and explain his feelings, and Kai will be waiting with a smile and open arms.

_ He has to. _

And, most importantly, Soobin will have a good day.

He drifts off to sleep like that, still in his street clothes atop his blankets, fading away on the view of his dress robes.

Ready to face Christmas Day and the Yule Ball.

* * *

In his dream, someone awaits him. They’re ready, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/godtyun) or [cc](https://curiouscat.me/godtyun)!  
weekly updates!


	30. Hang the Stars, pt. 1

Taehyun peers through the window of the Study Hall, basking in the cloudless morning twilight. Flecks of snow swirl about, but the landscape remains simply frosted over. He exhales softly, waiting.

Light footsteps have him turning in time to see pajama-clad Beomgyu closing the door behind him. When he lays eyes on Taehyun, he opens his mouth to speak, then stops short. “Whoa.”

Taehyun almost forgot. He tugs some of his fire engine-red bangs forward to appreciate them, having almost forgotten the magical hair coloring session that his roommate helped him with last night. “Oh, yeah. Do you like it?”

Beomgyu nods as he comes to sit opposite Taehyun. “Won’t you get in trouble, though?”

“What, like you weren’t blonde for two years?”

“Blonde blends in, though. That kind of red…” Beomgyu trails off.

“I’ll dye it back before the new term starts,” Taehyun says, his leg shaking under the table anxiously. He has very little patience for this topic— not when he’s bursting at the seams to get to the point. So, without any buildup except for the fact that he arranged this vague date yesterday, he says, “I wanna know why you didn’t contact me.”

He is, of course, referring to the fact that Beomgyu did not post him any letters while he was at home during his family emergency. Beomgyu hesitates, then smiles. “Your post hasn’t been delivering all term.”

“It got resolved last week,” replies Taehyun, who did not say this yesterday when Beomgyu made his surprise arrival to give the same excuse. He didn’t say anything at all— just hugged his boyfriend and bided his time until he could collect himself. Until now.

Beomgyu might go pale except that the candles scattered around the room cast him aglow. “Well, I didn’t know that.”

“Then you should’ve left me a message through _ Daniel_.”

“I know.” Beomgyu nods stiffly. “I should have. I’m sorry.”

_ Should I believe you? Are you really sorry? Do you even like me? Am I just a prop to you? _ Many questions, each more toxic than the last, bubble up to the surface of Taehyun’s mind while he openly stares at his boyfriend, bewildered.

Beomgyu seems to read his expression as stonewalling. “Please don’t ice me out.”

_ Oh, no you did not. _Taehyun looks at him, astonished, and cracks. “How can you say that to me?”

Beomgyu winces.

Taehyun’s chest heaves uncomfortably. “I have been waiting for two weeks for anything, _ any _ sign that you were or weren’t okay, and you didn’t send me shit,” he fumes quietly, almost seething. “You sent an owl to _ Daniel_, and that’s fine, that’s your best friend, I _ get _ it, hyung, but then let's not pretend that you think I’m really that important to you.”

Now the floodgates are open. He continues mockingly, “‘Let’s not pretend that Taehyun is worth confiding in.’ ‘Let’s just leave him and make him wonder if we ever really cared about him.’ ‘Let’s protect him from hardship, because he doesn’t deserve to be in pain.’

“But I _ am _ in pain!” he chokes, tears burning his eyes. And when Beomgyu hangs his head, he loses it, slamming his fists on the table and biting, “What was I supposed to think? You left without saying goodbye. And then Kai went missing, and I was so afraid for him— I was so out of my mind, but _ Soobin _ didn’t want to talk about it, and I wanted to talk about it, but you weren’t even _ there_. Yes, I’m sorry about your grandfather, and I’m so, so glad that he’s okay, and I hope your family is resting easy now, but what the _ fuck_, hyung?”

Taehyun dissolves into silent tears, turning to the window and trembling while Beomgyu’s head bows low in shame.

“I don’t deserve you.” His boyfriend’s voice is quiet, and he gently reaches out to touch Taehyun’s tightly gripped hands on the table.

“God,” Taehyun chokes, hating himself for not pulling away. “This is why I never wanted to accept your feelings in the first place.”

A sickening beat of hesitation rolls between them before Beomgyu answers, “Because I’m a piece of shit.”

Taehyun looks at their hands._ Because I knew I’d like you too much to let you go, _ he thinks traitorously. Beomgyu’s eyes are on him, but he dare not reciprocate. He feels like he’s finally come apart at the seams, revealing his clumsy stuffing and desperate heart.

“I made an Unbreakable Vow,” Beomgyu utters finally.

Taehyun looks up, his eyes going wide. 

Beomgyu’s face stills, but his tense grip on Taehyun betrays his coolness. “So,” he says, like he can’t bear to linger on it. “I’m sorry that I’ve been shitty. My choices have been _ limited—_”

“_Hyung_,” Taehyun sputters, his voice cracking with worry.

“_ — _but I’m not in trouble, okay?” Beomgyu insists with wide eyes, holding his boyfriend’s hands tighter and shaking his head. “I don’t want you to worry. Everything is okay. I’m really fine.”

Taehyun observes the boy in front of him. He looks different than he did before he went home. His black hair obviously makes the biggest difference, bringing out his eyes and softening his image, but there’s a fatigue illuminated by the candlelight that has Taehyun doing a double-take. “Hyung, what are you doing?” he breathes, trying not to let worry color his words so much. Unbreakable Vows are a serious matter. If Beomgyu doesn’t fulfill his terms, he’ll fall dead. What could his terms be? What has him looking so… gaunt? 

How many lies has Beomgyu told him? How many more will he tell under threat of death?

But if Beomgyu is sworn to secrecy, then he certainly can’t tell Taehyun. Guilt swarms Taehyun for being so demanding even as rage coexists at Beomgyu’s recklessness. “Are you an idiot?” he barks. “How could you make an Unbreakable Vow?”

“It’s_ because _ I’m an idiot,” Beomgyu quips back, baiting an amused reaction. When it doesn’t come, he exhales softly, his eyes desperate and pleading. “I like you so much. I’m so sorry that I’m hurting you.”

“Hyung,” Taehyun says again, because words fail.

They must fail for Beomgyu too; after a pause, he leans over the table and kisses Taehyun, holding his face sweetly. When he sits back down, he looks softer, his fingers now lazily playing with Taehyun’s as an easier silence takes place.

“Come with me to the Yule Ball?” Beomgyu asks quietly, like someone might hear them.

Taehyun examines their hands. For a moment, his heart feels close to bursting with an emotion so strong that he wonders if he can call it that strange word yet.

He takes a little breath, centering himself. He won’t call it that yet. It’s too much. But this, he doesn’t mind answering. “You don’t have to ask.”

* * *

Soobin wakes up feeling quite odd. For once, it is not Yuuto or a uselessly snoozed alarm clock that forces him up, nor is it the hunger that he crudely satisfied with cheap chocolates last night.

Rather, it feels like someone has rearranged the sections of his brain. Internally, it feels almost cool and new, like he’s never had a thought before in his life, though he’s sure that he’s just being dramatic under the spell of the holiday. Even so, a trace of something warm leaves him feeling full of hope, like a fairy visited him in his dreams. 

He touches his bare chest gingerly, smoothing his hand flat along the goosebumps that form from the cool air. He smiles. He does not feel tired or confused. He feels good.

He even feels like taking a stroll. And as he dresses in cleaner street clothes than yesterday and takes daring glances at his dress robes hanging on the wardrobe, he wonders if perhaps he’s gone mad after all. He shakes his head and quietly exits, leaving behind a dorm full of sleeping boys for the first time in months.

The cold air doesn’t bother him as he descends the staircase to the Common Room. It only invigorates him. After bidding the Fat Lady an apologetic good morning and “Happy Christmas,” he pads quietly along the corridor, wandering wherever he pleases. He descends a staircase or two idly, then stops at once to let the staircase decide where to take him. 

After a few rotations, a short figure comes into view from the floor below and Soobin immediately recognizes the pixied copper hair of Professor Aadnevik. Almost overwhelming her stature is a stack of heavy boxes in her hands, two more boxes floating behind her as she descends the stairs below. Two or three poster tubes follow in her wake.

Soobin doesn’t know what compels him, but he calls out, “Professor Aadnevik?” at a volume that he attempts to keep reasonable for Christmas morning.

Still, it must shock her, because one of her poster tubes falls and pops open, rolling out a motivational Neil deGrasse Tyson poster onto the floor. “_No one is dumb who is curious. The people who don't ask questions remain clueless throughout their lives._” Soobin recognizes it as her prized signed poster that she keeps on the back wall of her classroom for everyone to see.

“Oh! I’m sorry!” he calls out, leaning over the handrail in surprise as the staircase comes to a halt under him. 

Aadnevik stops and looks around her boxes to view Soobin. Seeming satisfied that it’s just him, she calls softly, “Would you mind?”

It takes Soobin a second to even understand what she’s saying, let alone what she means. Then, putting two and two together, he takes out his wand and swishes while focusing on the poster. “_Scourgify,_” he instructs, a little unsure, but the poster dusts itself off before gently rolling back into the tube and joining its siblings midair.

Aadnevik smiles mildly. “Happy Christmas, Mr. Choi.”

“Happy Christmas, Professor.” Soobin looks among her several taped boxes. “Are you going somewhere?”

Aadnevik shakes her head. “Just cleaning a bit.”

“Oh,” he sounds, finding it odd that she would move her prized poster. Then the staircase begins to rumble under him again and, deciding to be more helpful than suspicious, he quickly offers, “Would you like some help?”

“That’s okay, thank you,” her voice softly carries as the staircases force her out of view once more.

_ Cleaning on Christmas morning, _ Soobin ponders, continuing down his own staircase. _ Maybe she doesn’t have a family to go home to. _ He doesn’t _ think _ he’s ever heard her speak about a spouse or siblings or children. 

There’s no more to think of, though, because a fire engine red-haired Taehyun comes jumping up his staircase and stops short at the sight of Soobin too. “Am I seeing a ghost?” Taehyun asks playfully, obviously referring to the hour at which Soobin is awake.

“Am I seeing a tomato?” Soobin chirps back, his eyes going wide at the color.

Taehyun smiles. “My roommates helped me with it last night. I’ll dye it back before the new term, but I wanted to try it out.”

Soobin laughs in surprise. “It looks crazy. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas. Going to breakfast?”

_Breakfast. _ Soobin’s stomach grumbles at the thought of it, reminding him of his less-than-substantial nutrition yesterday. “Yeah, let’s go,” he agrees, catching up to Taehyun and letting him wrap around Soobin’s arm affectionately. “I don’t know how I’m awake. I’m not tired or anything.”

“Huh,” Taehyun comments, and they descend more stairs. “I just talked to Beomgyu about… uh, making up. And stuff.”

“Oh. How did it go?”

A beat passes. Then: “It was fine. It was a little sad, but we both got some stuff out, and…” He trails off in thought.

Soobin swipes at the bright red bangs, attempting to lighten his friend’s mood. “I bet he was excited about your hair.”

Taehyun snorts, but a smile creeps into his voice. “Yeah, he was.”

Soobin smiles, and as they walk peacefully about the castle, hearing the voices of other excited Christmas Day early-risers, he suddenly wishes that Kai could be with them, too. “He’s still not here.”

Taehyun gives him a look, and then seems to understand what he means. “Yeah.”

Now they walk in true silence, a united prayer seeming to form between them. Soobin’s heart aches for Kai’s parents. “Today of all days… It’s really unfair,” he murmurs.

“Yeah,” says Taehyun. “Unfair and strange.”

Soobin says nothing to this. He knows that Taehyun is referring to the theory that Kai’s disappearance is wrapped in a mystique involving Yeonjun, Choi Hongnak, and Professor Aadnevik. But this time, he dares not deny it, for he now knows that there might be more truth to it than even Taehyun knows.

Taehyun reads the silence acutely. “You believe me, don’t you?”

“Believe what?” Soobin asks naively, avoiding his eyes.

“You’re not arguing,” Taehyun points out shrewdly. “You believe me. You think something’s up.”

He stops suddenly and pulls Soobin to a nearby window, crossing his arms and waiting for the verdict he’s been so keen to affect.

Soobin sighs, looking out the window overlooking the Great Lake and debating how best to approach this topic with Taehyun. If anyone would understand or even want to understand the confusion that Soobin is going through, it’d be Taehyun, but Soobin is reluctant to reveal anything pointing to Yeonjun’s status as a wanted person. “Slorians brought me in for a meeting on Monday,” he admits carefully. “Just, like, early career counseling.”

“And?” Taehyun asks expectantly.

“The Korean Ministry came in.”

Taehyun’s eyes go wide. “They _ were _ looking for someone,” he breathes, staring at Soobin like he’s a broom that just popped out a cup-holder. “Daniel?” he guesses, clearly trying to read Soobin’s face for more information.

But this time, Soobin is ready. He has no intention of outing Yeonjun as a potential criminal. Even outside of his promise to Headmaster Slorians, he does not want Taehyun to come to ugly assumptions about Yeonjun, whose innocence Soobin has to believe in. “No,” he lies. He decides on a piece of the truth instead. “They were looking for a book. You mentioned a thesis to me, right?”

“Yeah,” replies Taehyun, drifting closer. “Hyung, holy shit, what do you know?”

Soobin leans back, giving himself space to craft a story that doesn’t involve Yeonjun’s very-questionable identity_. _ “I think Kai talked to Slorians about the thesis before he…”

Taehyun looks alarmed at this. “Kai went to him? When?”

“Two weeks ago, Thursday. We were just hanging out in the corridor and Slorians wanted someone to help him move furniture.”

“Shit,” Taehyun sounds, knocking his head on the wall. “We were supposed to see him together on Friday. I told you, he stood me up.”

Soobin remembers now. That Friday, Taehyun told Soobin that he looked for Kai everywhere, including Slorians’ office. Soobin found it strange then, but now it makes sense. “Right. Well, maybe Slorians told Kai about the thesis. I mean, he told _ me _ about it, so...”

“What did he say?” Taehyun pries.

Soobin looks up in recall. “The thesis is in a journal with other ones, it’s in the Restricted Section, and the title is _ Hang the Stars… _ something-something… _ Guide to Creating and Destroying Worlds. Complete With Spells.” _

“Holy fuck. With _ spells?"_

“Yeah,” says Soobin, and now that he’s finally talking about it, it makes a little more sense. “But I talked to that library part-timer Kanat and they can’t find any student thesis journals from the ‘80s. Slorians swears it’s in there, though.”

“It’s gotta be super enchanted,” says Taehyun, taking a deep breath. “Wow. Well, we should get a teacher’s note and go take a look when they open again tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” Soobin glances out the window.

“What?”

Soobin thinks back to yesterday. _ “But it’s okay. I’ll get it soon.” _ Yeonjun seemed matter-of-fact, like it was decided already that he’d get the book, the fact that he was unsuccessful all term long notwithstanding. He could have meant “soon” as in next term or next year. But why is there a sense of urgency in Soobin’s veins? Why does he feel so _ awake? _ “No. Nothing. I just can’t believe that a student created spells to create and destroy worlds.”

“And that the Korean Ministry is looking for it,” Taehyun adds.

Soobin thinks he might know the reason for that. _ Hang the Stars _ must be evidence that incriminates Choi Hongnak for alleged treason. He’s not about to reveal that, though. He firmly does not want to implicate Yeonjun at all.

“I know you’re all just trying to protect me by being secretive, but Jesus, I’m not breakable.” Soobin glances at Taehyun, whose eyes bore into his. He does not look desperate or upset. He looks quietly determined in a way that befits his red hair. “Let me know when I can help. I’ve been ready.”

Trying not to look surprised, Soobin nods, counting his lucky stars that he has such a loyal person as a friend.

Taehyun stands to his full height and smiles. “Breakfast?”

“_Yes,_” Soobin resounds, and they continue on their way. Then he remembers what’s awaiting him at breakfast and gasps with horror. “Oh, no. You didn’t see what happened at breakfast yesterday.”

“What happened?” Taehyun asks curiously. “I thought you weren’t even there.”

As they walk, Soobin recounts the tale of Yuuto outing his crush on Yeonjun and Soobin’s subsequent escape to the library. Taehyun tries to hold his laughter out of consideration, but even Soobin lets out a nervous giggle or two from the sheer absurdity of the situation.

When they arrive at breakfast to a scattering of early-risers munching on fresh-baked breads and puddings, Soobin sits with Taehyun at the sparse Ravenclaw table and fills his plate in spite of his nerves. He keeps glancing at the double doors every time they open, wishing that Yeonjun would come already and put him out of his misery.

About 30 minutes into eating, when Taehyun and Soobin have begun to slow down and slip into irrelevant debates— today, about the cuteness of pangolins and then the perpetual debate of The Hit Witches versus Piola in Chains as the best current wizarding band— he feels hands on his shoulders and looks directly up into Yeonjun’s eyes. Soobin remains absolutely still, having carelessly forgotten that this was coming.

“Plan for tonight?” asks Yeonjun, his forest-green v-neck sweater making his skin positively glow.

Soobin goes blank. “Um.”

“And Merry Christmas, of course,” Yeonjun adds, sitting down with them. He pushes up his sleeves and, after Taehyun and Soobin greet him back accordingly, takes in Soobin's apprehensive look. “What?”

Soobin hesitates, wondering if he really does not understand the reason for Soobin’s awkwardness. “Uh.” He glances at Taehyun, who pointedly turns to a group of Ravenclaw girls nearby. “About, what, um… Yuuto said yesterday.” Each word is more difficult to get out than the last.

He thinks that Yeonjun might pretend not to remember out of consideration for him; it would certainly be in character. But Yeonjun doesn’t play dumb. He nods slowly. “But _ you _ didn’t say you liked me, did you?”

Soobin shakes his head slightly.

“Then it doesn’t count.” Yeonjun swipes a crumb off Soobin’s chin. “Is 6:50 okay for tonight? Ball starts at 7, but I have to go to rehearsal then. It’d be nice to talk a _ little _ before I abandon you for two hours.”

Soobin nods, not quite relieved but not quite burdened either. “Uh, that’s fine. Entrance Hall, 6:50?” He turns to Taehyun. “Maybe Taehyun and Beomgyu will come, too.”

Taehyun glances back, looking between them, and then shakes his head in exaggerated disappointment. “Oh, no… I think we’re gonna be busy _ just _ until 7.” He, of course, does not look sorry at all.

Yeonjun brightens. “Alright. Then it’s just you and me, okay?” He squishes a bit of Soobin’s neck before standing. “I’ll see you later.”

“Part Veela,” says Taehyun, after Yeonjun is a safe distance away. “Mark my words.”

“You’re one to talk,” Soobin quips as Beomgyu skips over to them. He immediately starts cooing over Taehyun’s red hair, clearly still touched by its bold vibrance since seeing it earlier this morning. Soobin takes the opportunity to make his exit, heading over to Namjoon and Adora at the Gryffindor table.

After wishing the students a merry holiday, Slorians reminds them of the expectations for behavior at the Yule Ball, quoting word-for-word the notices that have been up in the Common Rooms for weeks. He also mentions anticipated performances by the Frog Choir, certain student soloists (Soobin glances at Yeonjun, whose friends elbow him genially), and, to the great excitement of the students, the famous wizarding band Piola in Chains. Soobin glances at Taehyun, who is already pointing at him and mouthing, “Pay up!” Soobin scowls contemptuously and turns forward, deigning to forfeit his opinion on the Great Wizarding Band Debate.

He _ intended _ to spend the day with Taehyun after breakfast, but the Ravenclaw’s new red hair seems to inspire Beomgyu to determinedly steal him away from anyone and everyone and keep him for himself, as Soobin comes to realize around noon when he finds Beomgyu whisking Taehyun away to the Astronomy Tower. “Hey!” he calls out in complaint from the bottom stair.

“Go hang out with Daniel,” Beomgyu shrugs, closing the door behind them with Taehyun just shooting Soobin a look that says, _ “Well…” _

And yeah, Soobin would _ like _ to hang out with Yeonjun, but after looking for him for nearly 20 minutes, he loses his nerve. And anyway, Namjoon and Adora cross his path and invite him into Hogsmeade, which is a fine alternative to going to Gryffindor Tower and auditing the Fat Lady’s revue of off-tune carols.

The time seems to fly; window shopping turns into drinking Butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks, turns into entering Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop and then promptly leaving when Soobin nearly gags from seeing Laura Hall and Yuuto sucking face at one of the cramped, frilly tables.

But somehow, as awkward as it is seeing his roommate of four-and-a-half years sticking his tongue down the throat of the prettiest girl at Hogwarts, it doesn’t beat the painfully half-hearted, high-fived goodbye that Namjoon and Adora give each other two hours later when the three finally separate in the Gryffindor Common Room. By some miracle, Namjoon and Adora managed to negotiate going to the Ball together, but they seem ill-prepared to face the music of being dates rather than bickering friends. 

At any rate, Soobin doesn’t mull over it, because it hits him that the emptiness of the Common room means that most students are already getting ready in their dorms. After spending an inordinate amount of time in the communal shower scrubbing his body, shaving his face, and freezing up at the thought of dancing with Yeonjun, Soobin has to face the music too: he’s going to the Yule Ball, and he’s going with Yeonjun. In a renewed blaze of nerves, he enters his dorm to a room full of loud chatter and airborne clothes, under which he clumsily ducks, and beelines for his hanging dress robes.

“Soobin, who’s your date?” one of his roommates asks, some red-spotted tissue stuck to his cheek where he must have nicked himself shaving.

_ They’re gonna figure it out sooner or later. _ “Daniel Choi.”

The room goes quiet. Only Yuuto seems unfazed, continuing to steam the wrinkled sleeves of his dress robes as he stands proudly in his boxers. “Told you, prats.”

“He’s singing a solo, right?” says another roommate, who’s double-fisting cologne bottles like he’s ready to freshen up an army of trolls. “I heard from Virginia Bay. She’s in the Frog Choir with him.”

Soobin nods. “Yeah.”

“He must be pretty good, then.”

“Reckon he’ll change some lyrics?”

“Bet you five Cauldron Cakes he does!”

“Not a chance. The teachers don’t love him more than they love etiquette.”

“Fine, five Cauldron Cakes that he changes the words and Slorians is too sloshed to notice!”

The boys whoop and holler, breaking out into further debate. Soobin begins to dress, wondering if he should peruse his own cologne selection, only to realize that he has none to speak of. He promptly decides that the air itself is saturated with enough desperate perfume to rub off on him naturally.

At 6:30, he can’t stand any more sitting around in the boys’ dorm and glancing at the mirror. He did the best he could for himself and even borrowed Yuuto’s mousse. (He admittedly has to cast _ Scourgify _ on his hair afterward when it begins to resemble a mushroom.)

All in all, he thinks he looks fine. At least, Yuuto doesn’t question his styling as they pad down the corridors together in stiff silence. He considers a last-minute attempt at a trendy Korean apostrophe-style bang but lets it go, having run out of the energy for vanity. He just runs his fingers through his bangs and hopes for the best.

Yuuto calls out, “_Fire whiskey!_” as they pass the stone gargoyles guarding Slorians’ office, but they remain steadfast and impassive. He shrugs at Soobin. “Worth a shot.”

Then they pass a familiar door whose thick oak front bears the carved drawings of planets. 

Soobin stops, feeling a little outside of himself.

It’s several seconds before Yuuto’s footsteps still and he calls out, “What is it?”

_I don’t know. _He reaches out to touch the door to Professor Aadnevik’s classroom. It’s certainly always been carved this way, so why does it feel significant all of a sudden? That rush of invigoration and freshness from this morning refills his veins, and he closes his eyes to a memory of something else carved into wood. But it’s too fuzzy to grasp.

“What, have you suddenly been blessed with the _ Inner Eye?_” Yuuto sasses.

Soobin opens his eyes and raps the door. When no response comes, he tries again. No response. He turns the handle. Locked.

“Don’t bother. She’s probably having a moment with a Neil poster.”

_ I must be out of my mind. _ Soobin takes a deep breath and takes out his wand. Before he can rationalize it or reason with himself, he says, “_Alohomora_,” and the lock audibly gives way.

“Are you _ mad?_” Yuuto hisses.

Soobin opens the door, holding his wand aloft, but there’s no need. The classroom is quite empty of any potential opponents. In fact, it’s quite empty of anything at all. The dome-like walls, normally laden with revolving starscapes, show only white stone. There are no Neil deGrasse Tyson posters, no lively trinkets, no keepsakes of past classes. Soobin’s mouth falls open at the sight. He’s never been a big fan of Astronomy, but Aadnevik always kept the classroom so cozy and lived-in. And now it’s like it was never used for anything. The only evidence of human traction is a closed trunk and a large, worn handbag on the teacher’s podium.

_ Where did she go? _ Soobin wonders, alarmed. He thinks back to this morning when he saw Professor Aadnevik in the corridors. _ Does she do some kind of annual deep cleaning? That would be a deep, deep cleaning… _

“Satisfied?” Yuuto calls, still rooted to the spot. “Come on, don’t you have to meet Daniel early?”

Soobin breathes hard, retreating into the corridor and locking the door. Where would Aadnevik have taken her things? _ Her study, _ says Occam’s Razor, even though his brain churns to understand something more complicated and out of reach. He follows Yuuto downstairs, maintaining just enough focus to avoid any vanishing steps.

The memory of a carved drawing seems to haunt him, but it’s unfamiliar, like a memory he’s never seen before. But that’s impossible. Either it’s a memory or it’s not— or it’s something he made up.

Or it’s something from a dream.

“Soobinie.”

He breaks out of his haze to lay eyes on a sight more beautiful than the Christmas sky. There, in an understated sort of glory, stands Choi Yeonjun in slim black trousers, a white button-up, standard black dress robes, and a dark beret, looking clean, pressed, and so happy to see Soobin. 

As Soobin descends the last of the steps, the light catches on some red shine on Yeonjun’s lips, and yeah, he might die tonight if he doesn’t finally kiss him.

Yeonjun touches the closure of Soobin’s grey robes. “This is a nice color on you.”

Soobin isn’t sure that _ “nice” _ covers the return trip, so he says “Thanks,” because he doesn’t have any other words readily available to him, apparently.

“They’ve got a guy taking photos,” says Yeonjun, pointing. Soobin follows his ring-clad finger to a corner of the Entrance Hall where a man is sitting and snapping photos of couples against a rich purple tapestry littered with shooting stars. A small queue has begun on one side of him. “You wanna…?”

“Yeah, definitely.” As they cross to the queue, Soobin glances at the various couples, mostly boy-girl but a few gays in the fray as well. Everyone is dressed and styled very nicely— the girls are wearing bright dresses, and even some boys are clad in dark shades of maroon or navy. He turns to Yeonjun curiously. “Didn’t you say not to clash with green?”

Yeonjun nods. “Yeah. For my solo I’m gonna change, but for the Frog Choir we have to wear blacks. But,” he whispers, tapping his beret, “They let me have my hat, so I’m okay.”

“Nice,” says Soobin, his heart doing a little twist. “It looks nice.”

“Up to the front!” the photographer calls, waving down Yeonjun and Soobin. “You get one shot, right? Look sharp!”

Soobin follows Yeonjun into the frame and looks around warily. The photography setup does not seem to encourage very natural human behavior. No stools or props— just Yeonjun and Soobin in front of a tapestry. 

Yeonjun looks back at him and wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, making him look like a fool. 

Soobin snorts with laughter and throws his head back, eyes squinted and head brushing against the tapestry. Warm, ringed fingers twine with his, and he opens his eyes to Yeonjun, whose cute smile could cure diseases, Soobin is sure.

By the time he stops laughing and brings himself upright, he hears, “Right, next couple!” and Yeonjun is pulling him away with their hands interlocked. 

Soobin blinks in surprise, looking back at the photographer, who is already lining up for his next shot. “Wait, what?” he asks, like there’s been a mistake. “We didn’t take the photo.”

“Yeah, we did,” Yeonjun chortles. “It went off while you were laughing.”

Soobin frowns a little, but before he can register worried thoughts, Yeonjun digs a nail into his hand, jolting him out of his head. “Earth to Soobin. You with me?”

Soobin nods, reveling in Yeonjun’s soft, warm hand in his. Soobin’s oversized hand threatens to eclipse Yeonjun’s, but that just makes the feeling more precious.

Yeonjun steps closer to Soobin. “Do you—”

“Check out our _ earrings_,” Beomgyu hoots, jumping in front of them. A grumpy-faced Taehyun follows in his wake, both wearing standard black dress robes and dress shoes.

“Let’s see it, then,” Yeonjun sighs, turning to the pair. “I’m jealous already, though.”

Beomgyu comes close to them and turns, showing off a dangly silver chain from his lobe, at the end of which is a lock.

Soobin glances at Taehyun, whose face is almost as red as his hair. Beomgyu pulls his arm meaningfully. “Come on, Hyunnie, show them.”

_Hyunnie. _ Taehyun goes even redder at the nickname. “_Hyung, please,_” he whispers in Korean.

Soobin has a hard time keeping himself under control. He desperately wants to laugh at Taehyun with a full, raucous voice, but he steels himself, now endlessly interested in the match to Beomgyu’s lock. With an awkward pause followed by very hesitant shuffling, Taehyun comes close, revealing a delicate stud earring shaped like a heart key.

“_Wow,_” Soobin drawls appreciatively, though he shoots a look at a smirking Yeonjun that says, _ you will never catch me wearing one of those. _

Taehyun quickly retreats, now staring at the photography corner in mortified focus. Soobin doesn’t think he’s _ ever _ seen Taehyun look truly embarrassed, but his reaction seems to greatly please Beomgyu, who beams and wraps himself around Taehyun’s arm. “I bought them in Hogsmeade last month.”

_ Gag. Gag. Gag. _ Soobin nods and gives an enthusiastic thumbs-up, shooting Yeonjun another amused look, but his date’s smile fades while looking elsewhere.

“Daniel, Frederick!” calls Professor Ito, who has foregone a gown in favor of practical dress robes. She gestures from a side door. “You’re late. Let’s go.”

“Sorry,” whispers Yeonjun, letting go of Soobin’s hand. Soobin misses the warmth immediately. “Watch me later, okay?”

Soobin nods, clasping his own hands together awkwardly as Yeonjun strides toward Ito, joined by Frederick Feierabend in the same robes as Yeonjun, but sans beret. Soobin smiles. Yeonjun just _ has _ to have style, no matter what. _ I’ll get used to it, _he thinks.

* * *

“That’s my _ foot_,” Beomgyu hisses over Taehyun’s head.

Soobin quickly retracts his foot from the hard thing that he thought was a table leg, mouthing back an apology before continuing to sing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” with everyone else in the Great Hall.

He looks around, tuning out the refrain to admire the elegance of the setup of the Great Hall. Lining the edges of the room are a dozen ceiling-tall, decor-saturated Christmas trees that would put any Muggle creation to shame. Sprinkled further in are 35 or so large circular tables, at which the students now sit, singing under Slorians' direction as he conducts from the Headmaster’s podium. The sky-like ceiling reflects the outdoor conditions; that is to say, cloudless and blue with tinges of orange and pink from the setting sun. A thousand floating candles shine brighter as the sky darkens, keeping the hall well-lit and making it look more romantic as time passes.

Soobin initially saves a seat for Yeonjun, but Beomgyu tells him not to bother— the soloists are going to be too busy to need a seat at all. So he sits alone on one side of Taehyun and Beomgyu, who keep flashing mushy looks at each other, and on one side of Adora and Namjoon, who occasionally hit each other when they get the lyrics wrong. And even though the latter couple is obviously doing their best to _ not _ treat it like a date, Soobin finds them more insufferable, if possible.

After Slorians gets his fill of conducting carols (after having gotten a fill of wine too, it seems), he retires to the faculty table, making way for Professor Ito to stand up and take charge.

Soobin finally sits up straight as, from the stage set up along one wall of the room, the Frog Choir members, dressed in uniform black dress robes and long black dresses, file onto the risers in neat lines. Yeonjun is instantly recognizable in front holding the fattest toad that Soobin has ever seen. Scattered shouts of “Wobo Gobo!” help him identify the creature as the most famous of Professor Ito’s singing toads. He turns to Taehyun._ “Ugly?” _ he mouths, curious about his opinion.

Taehyun nods with a grimace. _ “Kai would like him, though,” _ he mouths back.

The Frog Choir performs a set of five carols consisting of two dated Muggle carols, two traditional Wizarding carols, and then finally the great Christmas jazz classic “Nothing Like a Holiday Spell” by the famous witch singer Celestina Warbeck, during which they attempt a basic jazz-step. Soobin grins at Yeonjun’s little bounce as he holds up the ornate pillow for Wobo Gobo, whose belched harmonies stand out among the other front-row toads’.

When they finish, and Professor Ito tacitly determines that Headmaster Slorians is firmly asleep, she announces the start of dinner. The mouthwatering smells of various foods have Soobin’s stomach raring to go, but his eyes keep to the stage as the choir members scatter, striding to various tables to join their dates. Soobin wrings his hand, remembering Yeonjun holding it, but resigns himself as he sees Yeonjun remain on stage with three other students. Ito gestures to them, and they follow her into the wings of the backstage area.

All throughout dinner, Soobin gives hopeful looks to the stage, already getting excited for Yeonjun’s solo performance. _ He’s going to be so good, _ he thinks happily. _ He’s going to look so happy. Music is what he loves. _ This puts such a smile on his face that he wonders if he might be insufferable enough for him _ and _ his date.

“What, did the house-elves spike your drink?” Taehyun laughs. “We get it: your brain goes_ ‘Daniel, Daniel, Daniel.’”_ He mimics a monkey clapping cymbals together for emphasis, sending Namjoon, Adora, and Beomgyu into titters.

Soobin sobers up upon hearing Yeonjun’s English name and barks out a dry “ha ha ha” at Taehyun’s joke before turning his focus to anything else. His eyes find Beomgyu’s plate, which sports just one pitiful wing of chicken and a small bowl of leek and potato soup. He opens his mouth to ask if Beomgyu isn’t hungry but quickly thinks better of it, remembering when he asked Taehyun the same thing in Hogsmeade a few weeks ago and Beomgyu got angry.

Beomgyu kind of _ does _ look a little pale, though, twirling his spoon in his soup absently as he vies for Taehyun’s attention. 

_ Is something actually wrong or am I just projecting again? _Soobin wonders, refocusing on his own plentiful plate while his friends talk vibrantly.

“...but is Wobo Gobo cuter than a _ pangolin? _”

Soobin sits up at once, attempting to talk over Taehyun, who has already begun the rant of a lifetime. From the side, their friends laugh, and Soobin’s smile comes back to him easily as he gets fired up on the topic.

Dinner ends when, after the students sit back in their chairs and the sounds of metal silverware simmer down to nothing, Professor Ito takes the stage again, this time with a band setup lining the stage instead of choral risers. “Did you enjoy the food?” she calls.

“Yes, Professor!” comes the chorus of students.

“Well, you’ve come for a dance, haven’t you? Please join me in welcoming our accompanying band tonight, The Antidote, which is local to the Scottish town of…” Ito glances at her note card but seems to grapple with its contents.

The 20-something bassist whispers something to her. She hesitates, shakes her head, then gestures out. He sighs and loudly calls out, “Ballachulish,” to the low tittering of students.

“Come on, Ito,” Adora clicks with gentle reproof.

A red-faced Ito promptly goes on, “Our first performers of the night are Whitney Jaja of Gryffindor and Layla MacAskill of Slytherin.” 

Two dark-skinned girls emerge from the wings, no longer wearing the choral black dresses, but matching knee-length sky-blue tulle frocks paired with simple ballet flats and hoop earrings large enough that they register from where Soobin is sitting in the back. He recognizes Whitney as a seventh-year Quidditch player and is surprised to see that she, like Yeonjun, has a dual-life with music.

The students cheer, but not in time to drown out Adora shouting for Whitney, who is also cheered for by other girls around the hall as she takes the microphone. Whitney raises her arm in a confident pose before beckoning to Layla, who waves mildly at the crowd. Soobin smiles when Whitney grabs her hand comfortingly and says something away from the microphone.

Professor Ito waits for the cheers to die down. “Please hold your applause until I finish. Whitney and Layla will be followed by Sian Snowbell of Hufflepuff, Daniel Choi of Slytherin, and then Piola in Chains.”

She kills the knee-jerk response of students to clap for the famous wizarding band by charging through her next message: “May I please have the Head Boy, Head Girl and all of the Prefects out on the floor with their partners?”

Jeering whistles and catcalls precede the Prefects grimly getting to their feet. Soobin thanks his lucky stars that neither he nor Yeonjun are Prefects (though he does wish that he could have more time with his date tonight). The chosen students arrange themselves equidistant on the dance floor and awkwardly get into position for the traditional opening waltz. Finally, Ito turns to Whitney and Layla and nods.

The band behind them begin to snap in time, leading the girls into the opening verse of a bright, smooth duet whose rhythm takes the awkward dancers a bit of meandering to properly move to. Still, they’re smooth enough that it isn’t mood-killing.

After about half a minute of watching, Adora stands. “Come on then, Joon.”

Namjoon sinks further into his seat. “Well— we don’t have to… you know. Let’s let other people go up first.”

Adora cocks her head. “I’m saying let’s go now and dance properly before our only choices later are head-bangers or sappy ballads. Plus we’re seventh-years.”

“I like headbangers.”

Adora narrows her eyes at him. “Fine. I’ll ask Kim Taehyung.”

That gets Namjoon looking riled up. “You’re gonna ask him?”

Adora shrugs. “Yeah, why not?” She pats her glossed lips together. “He asked me here too. I could—”

“Let’s go,” Namjoon grumbles, standing up and stiffly offering his hand to her. 

She takes it with a soulless smile. “Oh, I’d _ love _ to,” she sings, walking off with him with a determination fitting for a seventh-year.

“Seniors are scary,” Soobin murmurs, shaking his head.

Namjoon and Adora seem to lead the brigade, encouraging more seventh-years onto the dance floor and eventually some underclassmen as well.

“Come on, let’s go too.”

Soobin turns to see Beomgyu pulling Taehyun’s hand, but Taehyun remains seated, glancing at Soobin. “Um...”

It clicks, and Soobin quickly gestures for them to go. “Oh! No. Go. I’m fine. I’ll just keep eating.” He puts on a smile and picks up a mince pie for effect.

“See? Come on, Hyunnie,” Beomgyu coos, pouting and lowering his chin.

Motivated by the urge to gag, Soobin helps Beomgyu pull Taehyun to his feet. “Go on, get out,” he insists before playfully clapping Beomgyu’s shoulder. 

He feels that he used a light hand, but Beomgyu jolts under the touch, his face tightening momentarily before he jogs away with Taehyun in hand. They quickly fall in line, disappearing into the thickening crowd and leaving Soobin behind to stare at his own hand in surprise.

_ Do I really not know my own strength? _

He sits back down, inspects his empty table, and knocks his knees together idly, contenting himself with staring into space and admiring Whitney and Layla’s complementing harmonies.

The song fades, followed by a new upbeat tune that challenges the recently-learned waltzing skills of the student body. Soobin refocuses on his surroundings as some robes get nearly tripped on and partners awkwardly slow down to figure out the new beat. He laughs at the cuteness of students younger than he is and catches Beomgyu trying to switch positions with Taehyun to no avail. Meanwhile, Namjoon and Adora are both looking anywhere but at each other, causing them to occasionally jump when they step on each other.

Soobin scans the remaining sitting students around the hall. Some couples look too nervous to try; some act like they don’t care. Some look resentful of their date. He notices a slumped, grey figure quietly entering through the double doors. He would think the figure was a ghost if he weren’t so clearly… well… _ Hans_. 

He almost does a double-take, but it really is Hans who is looking around nervously and adjusting light grey tweed robes that he must have inherited from his grandfather. The Caretaker steps along the edges of the hall, making his way to a deserted table in the far back that’s in front of the stage. 

He meets Soobin’s eyes. 

Soobin looks away at once, his heart rate jumping at getting caught. But what is _ Hans _ doing here? Surely he can’t like these kinds of things. No one… well, no one really _ talks _ to him. Is this really an enjoyable option for his evening? 

It _ certainly _ can’t be. Hans is looking directly at Whitney and Layla onstage and slipping into his natural scowl.

_If you don’t want to listen to music, why come to a dance?_ Soobin wonders.

The song ends, and Whitney and Layla bow to the audience before clambering offstage, chatting excitedly and waving to the clapping crowd. 

Ito takes the stage. “Sian Snowbell of Hufflepuff!”

As Sian appears from the wings and adjusts the microphone to her much shorter height, Taehyun appears in front of Soobin, panting and smiling brightly. “Weren’t they so good?”

“Yeah,” Soobin agrees, letting Taehyun flop down next to him. “Where’d Beomgyu go?”

Taehyun sets his sights on a mince pie. “Bathroom. Are you just gonna sit until Yeonjun finishes?”

Soobin glances at the double doors curiously. He just sees Beomgyu’s retreating figure slip out of the hall. _ The bathroom is probably full of boys avoiding dancing, _ he thinks to himself with a snort. Then, turning back to Taehyun, he shrugs. “Yeah, I guess so. Who else would I dance with?”

“Well, I think we’re past the waltzing,” notes Taehyun, nodding to the stage. 

Sian is a great contrast from Whitney and Layla in appearance— short, pale, and dressed in a floor-length white slip dress— but her vocal range is rather similar, living in mezzo-soprano territory but filling out in a bubblier tone. 

(Soobin’s mom used to be a choral singer. He knows a thing or two about it, but not enough to really critique. Even given what he knows, the only conclusion he can draw is that Sian is just as skilled and spirited as the singers before her.)

With the change of singer, he takes the opportunity to glance at Hans again, but the Caretaker appears even grumpier at the appearance of Sian, shutting his eyes tightly as if to drown out the music.

_ Weird. _Soobin looks away before he can run the risk of getting caught again.

“Oh my God, they don’t know what to do,” Taehyun whispers, pointing to a couple on the floor.

The most _ important _ contrast of Sian from Whitney and Layla is that her choice of music is slow and romantic, the lyrics waxing poetic about thunderstorms and the desire to call your first love. It’s very sweet, and in any other situation Soobin might be touched, but it’s hard to feel anything of the sort when Namjoon and Adora are _ literally standing still _ in a sea of slow-moving couples. Neither of them makes any move to leave, so clearly they _ want _ to be dancing together, but the first move appears to be eluding them both.

“I’m gonna vomit,” says Soobin. “I’m actually going to vomit. They’re in love.”

“Of _ course _ they’re in love,” Taehyun scoffs, taking out his wand and subtly pointing a muttered spell.

An invisible force nudges Namjoon towards Adora, giving him no choice but to touch her somehow, so he awkwardly grips her waist with one hand. She jumps a little at the contact but doesn’t rebuke him.

“This is the worst thing I’ve ever watched,” Soobin decides, covering his eyes but peeking through his fingers anyway. “Can’t you do anything else?”

Taehyun exhales with the effort. “Okay. Come on.” He sends off another delicate flick.

This time, Adora’s head is pushed, and as a reaction, she steadies herself on Namjoon’s shoulder. He jumps too.

Soobin groans. “End it. Please. I can’t watch.”

“Nope,” says Taehyun, putting his wand away. “If Beomgyu and I figured it out, they can figure it out and— Ah, there we go.”

Namjoon puts his other hand around Adora’s waist of his own accord and begins to move more surely, like this is where he was supposed to be all along. Soobin’s feeling of yuckiness fades away when Adora wraps her arms around Namjoon’s neck, resting her head against him.

They look peaceful.

“Wow,” Soobin says breathlessly.

“Yeah,” Taehyun whispers. “It’s even better on the inside.”

Soobin turns to Taehyun, who watches the couple with a familiar fondness. “How did you and Beomgyu figure it out?”

Taehyun snorts. “At first?”

Soobin cocks his head unsurely. “Yeah, but also now.”

Taehyun’s gaze becomes more distant so that he’s no longer really looking at their seventh-year friends. “He’s got stuff going on, but he knows that I was really upset.”

Soobin looks closely at him. “Do you love him? I know you guys have only been dating a couple months, but, you know… you’ve known each other a lot longer.”

“I don’t know,” Taehyun says with a frown. “I mean, back then we were just, like, kids who played together when our families hung out, and then he turned into my brother-in-law. And then he was the brother-in-law I went to school with, which is weird. And then Bora came along, and we’re, like… both uncles to this baby.” He pauses. “So he was my convenient playdate, brother-in-law, peer, co-uncle, maybe-real friend, person who had a crush on me. You follow?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s too many!”

Soobin laughs. “Too many?”

“You don’t get it. Daniel is just ‘crush’ in your head. You go ‘crush, crush, crush,’ all day long. And what do_ I _ do? Spend all day trying to separate all of the roles Beomgyu and I have played in each other’s lives and whether _ this _ ‘like’ is _ that _ ‘like’ and _ this _ ‘love’ is _ that _ ‘love,’ constantly. _ Oh, _ not to mention he also became my love counselor when I liked you for two years! That makes like seven!”

“You— you _ liked _ me?” Soobin echoes incredulously.

“For _ two years!”_ breathes Taehyun, shaking his head. “I’m over you, by the way. If that wasn’t clear.”

“Uh, okay.”

“But he’s always so clear about me. And I have no clue what this thing really is— this thing inside my chest.” He pokes his heart contemptuously. “I don’t know if it means ‘love’ like I think it’s supposed to mean.”

The song ends while Soobin and Taehyun look at each other, just sitting and breathing for a moment.

The music swells again, this time a jazzy number with cellos and trumpets. Taehyun tears away from Soobin’s gaze to look towards the door. Soobin follows his line of sight. No Beomgyu yet.

Taehyun stands. “Wanna dance?”

Soobin furrows his eyebrows in mock suspicion. “You’re not gonna misinterpret if I say ‘yes,’ are you?”

Taehyun laughs mockingly, pulling Soobin out of his seat with both hands. “Come on. Second-year Taehyun is beside himself right now.”

Soobin laughs, feeling light as he treads onto the dance floor. “That’s so cute. I can’t believe you liked me for that long.”

“Don’t get cocky. You were just a stepping stone to get to Beomgyu,” Taehyun warns as they enter the fray of loud music.

Soobin shrugs, smiling, and gives in to the atmosphere of movement. They dance, bopping around in the mess of students doing the exact same thing. It’s not great or sophisticated, but it’s fun. They sing along with the melody and lose themselves in the music.

Sian’s surprise third song, an original ballad, has Soobin and Taehyun hugging each other and swaying amicably, whispering about Namjoon and Adora’s progress as couples around them hold each other awkwardly or cozily.

When it ends, Sian bows to the applause of the students. Soobin’s heart races. _ So next is…? _

“We will have a three-minute break,” says Ito, peeking out of the wings and looking a little flustered. “Daniel Choi is next. Please enjoy The Antidote in the meantime!” She gestures to the accompanying band, who look at each other with surprised eyes.

The bassist jumps into action, calling to his band mates in what must be Scots. He magics his bass guitar into a keyboard and starts a melody, allowing the other musicians to build off him.

“Wow,” sounds Taehyun with a dry laugh. “We’re being given filler music.” He smiles dully, glancing at the double doors. “He might miss Yeonjun’s set.”

It finally occurs to Soobin that Beomgyu’s been gone for three songs— way too long for a bathroom stop.

Compelled by something unexplainable, Soobin tip-toes to get a look at Hans. He’s surprised to find the Caretaker suddenly sitting at a table as front as possible while still being center. There are even a couple students sitting near him and he doesn’t pay them any attention. Though the scowl remains, there’s something anxious and awaiting in his posture. 

It’s weird. Something weird is going on.

Taehyun hits Soobin’s arm with a self-deprecating laugh. “I’ve been left alone again.” It’s almost unintelligible under the music. He scoffs pitifully, “When will my boyfriend return from the war?”

Something very weird.

As if pulled by a thread, Soobin is magnetized away from Taehyun, his eyes fixed on the stage wings. Just beyond the sightline, something green and shiny shuffles. The black robes of Professor Ito scramble around it. “Ready? Are you ready?”

Yeonjun’s eyes appear, sharp and bold, just for a moment. “Yeah.”

Soobin turns to the doors, then scans the hall.

No Beomgyu.

Bile is circling in his stomach. He wishes he didn’t eat so much. He feels nauseous. Is this what Beomgyu felt like?

…

_ This is what Beomgyu felt like. _

“He fucked up the plan,” Soobin breathes, walking off the dance floor to look around wildly— to look around for any proof that he’s about to be massively wrong.

“Huh?” asks Taehyun, who must be on his heels, as his voice stays close.

Soobin’s brain is working faster than he can keep up with— faster than he can even understand. “He wasn’t supposed to come back for the Yule Ball. Yeonjun told him that he wasn’t ready.”

Taehyun grabs Soobin’s arm to stop him from moving. “Hyung, what are you—”

“Beomgyu didn’t tell Slorians that he was going home because he didn’t _ know _ that he would be going home. He would’ve told Slorians if it was a family emergency. I mean, his sister is on vacation in _ Monaco_. If it was serious enough for Beomgyu to set sail without telling anyone, she wouldn’t have gone anywhere.”

Taehyun looks bewildered, the facts landing but not quite computing. “Hyung, stop.”

Soobin laughs despite himself, holding up his now-shaking right hand. “I touched his shoulder. He was hurt. He didn’t know he was going to go away. He got hurt.”

“He could’ve gotten hurt at _ home_,” Taehyun posits steadily, looking around as if Beomgyu might appear to put Soobin’s reckless brain at rest.

Soobin knows he won’t appear, though. “He didn’t get hurt at home, Tyun. Think. You said it yourself.”

A horrible pause of shock runs between them. Taehyun’s eyes go glossy with understanding. “Stop.”

“He disappeared the same day as Kai.”

“Beomgyu had nothing to do with that. Shut up.”

“Kai knew too much about the thesis.”

“Beomgyu has _no_ _stock_ in the freaking thesis!”

“Yes, he does,” breathes Soobin, his eyes going wide. “Yeonjun needed him.”

Taehyun glares at him, hard. “How dare y…” A pallid wash falls over him as his mouth drops. A tear wells up in the inner corner of his eye as he breathes hard. “Oh, no.”

“What.”

“He made an Unbreakable Vow. Beomgyu made an _ Unbreakable Vow._ He told me.”

The nausea swirls in Soobin, but he can’t give in. The adrenaline is too thick. “Yeonjun couldn’t do it alone. He’s been looking all semester for that thesis and he hasn’t found it. He needed to try something new and he needed someone he could _ trust_.”

Taehyun gives him an open, searching look.

Soobin closes his eyes, trying to keep his thoughts distinct. “Beomgyu wasn’t supposed to come back before the Yule Ball. He wasn’t supposed to come at all. If he didn’t come, everyone would think he’s at home and he’d have all the time in the Restricted Section to do whatever it takes to get the thesis. No one would miss him.”

_ But why did he come back? _ Soobin squeezes his eyes, brain whirring. _ Beomgyu makes an Unbreakable Vow. He takes out Kai, who knows too much about the thesis, but Kai gets a piece of him first. Yeonjun helps Beomgyu, somehow— keeps him somewhere safe until Beomgyu can get the chance to go all out to get the thesis. _

A theoretically perfect plan that went wrong. Beomgyu came out of hiding and Yeonjun was _not_ happy about it. _ Why would Beomgyu bend the plan? _

Soobin opens his eyes and lands on Taehyun. “You.”

Taehyun blinks. 

“He bent the plan for you. He knew you might hurt beyond repair if he left you alone at the ball, even though it was the perfect chance for him to carry out the plan. And now he just has to make do with a ‘trip to the bathroom.’ Tyun, it’s because of _ you_. He didn’t want you to be alone and Yeonjun couldn’t stop him from coming out of hiding.”

Taehyun shakes his head, stepping away from Soobin. “He’s not pretending. There’s no— this isn’t a perfect opportunity,” he objects firmly. “‘All the time in the Restricted Section,’ ‘bathroom’— so what? Even when people aren’t there, Hans watches the Restricted Section. You’d have to be dumb to try anything crazy in there. Anyone who wanted unlimited time would have to— I mean, they’d have to _ remove _ him from the premises. They’d have to get rid of him. And Beomgyu has been with me all day. _ Me, _hyung.”

“Daniel Choi of Slytherin!”

The room looks up.

Onto the stage, to mesmerized silence, walks a fox-eyed Korean boy dressed in traditional wizarding hanbok in the most brilliant shade of green.

It takes Soobin’s breath away.

The layered silk fabric gathers around Yeonjun, expanding his presence and making him look grander with each passing second. His hair, now free from his beret, is parted to show his whole face. Black kohl lines his eyes, making them almost impossible to look away from.

“What…” Taehyun breathes.

The applause comes, but as if Soobin is listening from the inside of a bubble. He turns to the faculty table. Headmaster Slorians slowly rises from his chair, his face showing alarm at Yeonjun’s blatantly Korean clothes. 

Soobin turns again to look at Hans, having reached him like the final missing piece of the puzzle hiding underneath the kitchen cabinet.

Hans’ face shines with color, his eyes sparkling with a hopeful desperation that Soobin has never seen before. His whole being teems with the fullness of life when looking upon Yeonjun.

Yeonjun.

Oh, Yeonjun.

“Someone would have to get rid of him, wouldn’t they,” he murmurs, and feels Taehyun follow his eyes. “Or lure him away.”

The possibilities of lies, so many lies, pass through Soobin in that moment, but all he feels is numb. Did he ever really think that embarrassment would kill him? Did he really think that asking Yeonjun out would lead to his downfall?

Because nothing has ever felt like_ this. _

He should run. He should run and run. Repent. Forget. 

But he doesn’t run. He takes a hollow breath and looks at Yeonjun, as if for the first time.

He is so beautiful. He is the beauty of Greek tragedies and Shakespearean sonnets and every love song to have ever existed. He ousts Helen of Troy, Aphrodite, Venus, Adonis, the Sun, the Moon, the stars. He is more spectacular than a painting, more miraculous than magic itself. He is a perfect picture, a Mona Lisa on the other side of a window. He is soft and sweet and everything to have ever existed and the most singular point of the Universe.

The microphone adjusts to his height when he steps up to it, his eyes seeing far beyond the room.

_The picture of Daniel Choi is no more._

_ He’s given up on it. _

“Oh, Yeonjun,” Soobin grieves softly.

He faintly feels Taehyun rush away but feels helpless to do anything but stay where he is and stare. He fell for the picture for so long. It was a perfect picture in all facets: carefully constructed, painted with all the right colors, framed and displayed in just the right light, its subject too stunning to fail. He fell for it just like everyone else.

And now he can see the cracks— cracks that Kai must have seen. Yeonjun’s eyes flicker with uncertainty. His lip gloss has worn off. His chest rises and falls as he tilts the microphone toward his lips. He opens his mouth, and Soobin can almost hear the “hello” that is coming, but it doesn’t reach fruition. Instead, he pulls back and nods to the band that is now armed with drums, an electric guitar, and a keyboard.

The keyboard starts up, followed by the guitar and the drums, and Yeonjun alights, sidling up to the microphone like he’s got a secret to tell. And out of his mouth comes the nail in the coffin.

“저 환호성 난 매일 그 뒤,” _ Those cheers, I’m always behind it, _

“쿨한 미소는 너의 주무기.” _ A cool smile is your main weapon. _

Korean.

Soobin stares, the truth too real to deny.

“처음 만났던 운동장의 court,” _ The sports field court where I met you for the first time, _

“나도 주인공만 같던 movie scene.” _ A movie scene where I felt like a main character. _

Yeonjun’s voice is sweeter than honey, his tone smoother than chocolate. He sings, and his words ring true. They ring _ actually _ true for the first time in Soobin’s memory. They go right from Yeonjun’s heart to Soobin’s, and in them he finds everything and nothing at all.

The melody is bright and the beat cheery and hopeful. If the students are surprised by Yeonjun’s sudden Korean-ness, they don’t dwell on it. They dance around Soobin, who is so stricken that he feels he could be brought to his knees by a feather.

“네 패스 하나에 바로 나도 그 scene 안에,” _ I’m in that scene with your one pass, _

“Spotlight 불빛 아래 내 자리.” _ My place under the light of the spotlight. _

Yeonjun’s gaze falls directly on Soobin, like he knew that he was there all along. His expression is strong, his eyes fierce under Soobin’s scrutiny.

“날 향해 던져준 너의 다정한 그 말에,” _ Those kind words that you throw towards me, _

“나도 한순간에 주연이.” _ I became a lead actor at that moment. _

A lead actor.

_Yeah, that’s about right._

Yeonjun’s perpetually smiling eyes dim.

Soobin isn’t very good at concealing his thoughts and feelings; he wonders what kind of expression he’s wearing right now.

_ What a beautiful, beautiful painting you were. _

He turns his back, pushing through nicely-dressed girls and boys and letting his feet carry him to where he needs to go.

To save the boy who relies on lies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/godtyun) or [cc](https://curiouscat.me/godtyun)!  
⋆  
IMPORTANT NOTE: i am going on a four-day family trip this week. therefore, chapter 31 (Hang the Stars, pt. 2) will be posted two weeks from now. thank you for your understanding!


	31. Hang the Stars, pt. 2

Soobin never thought that Taehyun would be so disproportionately fast for the shortness of his legs, but as he exits the Great Hall to chase after him, he is reminded that Taehyun spent the last eight years playing football in a summer youth league. He races down the corridor far ahead of Soobin’s untrained long legs and yanks open the door to the boys’ bathroom. “Beomgyu-hyung!” he roars, his voice resonating up and down the corridor.

Soobin finally breaks into a sprint to catch up and enters the bathroom just as Taehyun kicks open the last of the bathroom stalls to a surprised yelp from an unsuspecting boy inside; only a pair of blond boys loiter at the urinals otherwise.

Taehyun bruises past Soobin on his way out, his face flushed with anger. “I’m gonna fucking kill him,” he fumes, beelining for the library and then whipping around and almost colliding with Soobin. “No, I’m going to kill Daniel first.”

“No,” Soobin objects. “It’s not Yeonjun. Aadnevik is controlling both of them.”

Taehyun snorts incredulously, but Soobin’s head is clear. “She’s leaving. She emptied her freaking classroom.”

“Why would she leave before getting the book?”

“It wasn’t empty-empty. There was still a trunk,” Soobin explains, tugging Taehyun by the sleeve down the corridor and towards a staircase. “She's gotta be leaving as soon as Beomgyu gets the thesis for her.” He then slows to a stop and turns to Taehyun. Resolution fills his body. “I think I can get the book— or at least I can stop Beomgyu from getting it to Aadnevik.”

Taehyun laughs without humor. “Okay,” he utters in almost a question, looking toward the direction of the library. “Let’s go.”

But as he moves, Soobin blocks his path, holding a hand up. “Wait,” he adds gently, looking into Taehyun’s shaky eyes. “Not you.”

Taehyun’s face falls. “I can take him,” he says quietly, though his wavering cadence indicates anything but. 

And yeah, skill-wise, Taehyun _ could _ match well with Beomgyu in a duel, but it’d be too mean to allow— not today, not like this. If there’s a chance for them to make it out of this without coming face-to-face on opposing sides, then Soobin will do whatever it takes to ensure it.

Taehyun sighs in frustration, then freezes and snaps his attention to Soobin with shiny eyes and pointed canines. “I think I can find Kai,” he breathes. “There are a couple of spots. The Vanishing Cabinet—!” He jumps upstairs with a burst of energy.

“Tyun,” Soobin interrupts.

Taehyun turns. He still looks distressed, but his expression is lined with a new determination that gives Soobin strength. “I really hope you’re wrong, hyung.”

And so they separate.

Soobin discards his dress robes right away and runs to the library, his wand in hand. He has to be careful. Beomgyu’s Unbreakable Vow could make him dangerous even if he doesn’t want to be, so Soobin slows down outside the library. His body erupts in shivers as he hears muffled blasts and crashes from deep within.

With a steadying deep breath, he enters. As he does, a sparrow’s chirp pierces the air and the blasting stops in response. Soobin eyes flutter shut fearfully, but he takes another breath, recoups his senses, and walks farther in, making his way through the deserted library and toward the Restricted Section, where the rope is still neatly in place.

Crossing the rope and carefully keeping an eye for Beomgyu, Soobin falters at the sight of the Restricted Section in complete disarray. Strewn books cover the floor in unceremonious piles, save for a few neat stacks from which Beomgyu must have started before resorting to less elegant means. As Soobin toes around the mess, he is reminded of his dorm at any given time.

A quiet thud grabs his attention. He toes down a narrow aisle toward the source, his mouth tightening. At last, he reaches the end and jumps out with his wand at the ready, but no one meets him.

Then, from several feet behind him, Beomgyu’s voice rings out:_ “Stupefy.” _

On the first syllable, Soobin acts on reflex and jumps away. The spell splatters uselessly on a thick glass window and sizzles in dissipation. Heart pounding and adrenaline spreading, he backs away down two more aisles and runs his hand along the wood of the shelves.

A sudden pinch makes his hand recoil; blood pools from a fresh slice on the pad of his index finger. His eyes gravitate to the shelf, where something unseen scratches into the surface.

He is understandably even more surprised when the strokes become recognizable as Korean: **그게 날아**. _ It flies_. The phrase then rearranges to become a book with wings. As it flutters, the grooves move underneath his fingers. **“**It flies?” he murmurs, suddenly reminded of the English word he and Yuuto kept discussing yesterday after he woke up: _ flies_.

The etched drawing also reminds him of the door to Aadnevik's classroom, and suddenly it's no wonder that he stopped in front of that same door today; there was a memory that he failed to place, but it was _ this. _ Something in a dream tried to plant this clue in his mind to let him know that the book _ flies_. Understanding what he must do now, he hastily swishes his wand and whispers, _ “Accio broom,” _praying that his broom is at the completion of its repair.

He doesn’t register Beomgyu’s sudden appearance from five aisles up. _ “Stupefy!”_

Soobin jumps out of the spell's path and runs. As he reenters the open area of the section, he turns to see his broom zipping toward him from the entrance. His heart jumps, and without further ado, he takes off on it, aiming high for the ceiling. _ I have to get above the shelves. _He reaches the top thus and spots Beomgyu at the same time that Beomgyu spots him. Running the risk of being an easy target, he keeps moving and examines each of the windowsills and top shelves for any books that might like to live in a higher atmospheric layer. 

_ There. _ Movement from the corner of his eye. Beomgyu shouts another stunning spell, but Soobin is already whizzing toward a little red book sitting half over the edge of a windowsill. He makes a grab for it when it stands upright and bounces out of his hand. He turns to see it landing on top of a shelf and continuing to bounce along. _ Close enough to flying, _ he figures with an inward shrug, and chases it.

From below, Beomgyu seems to catch on to Soobin’s idea. “_Accio _ book!” he shouts.

However, the book refuses to submit and, as if simply tired of the chase, lands on the edge of a shelf before freefalling. Soobin’s eyes go wide. He immediately gives chase, already aiming his broom at a steep angle when a fly buzzes past his ear. Unable to help instinct, he jerks, sending his broom tail into collision with a shelf. He is thrown from his broom and falls down, down, down, still reaching for the red book just out of reach.

Beomgyu appears nearby, but rather than letting his friend plummet to destruction, he points and stammers, _ “Arresto Momentum!” _

Soobin’s fall softens just as he strikes the floor, but he lands hard anyway and chokes at the impact. He does not move, the shock of the fall pulsating raw in his body. His broom lies in splinters at his side and the red book lies in his arms, clutched close to his chest. Through bleary eyes, he makes out numbers on the spine of the book: **1986-1987. **Feet enter his field of vision and the book is wrested from his arms. “No, no,” he protests, but he easily loses to Beomgyu, who secondarily removes Soobin’s wand from his pocket.

He lies crumbled and beaten; he’s never broken a bone before, but the ache of his body and the tenseness in a few key joints lead him to believe that he’s just had his first time.

_ How sentimental. _

“Is this it?” Beomgyu asks nervously, sitting away from Soobin in the aisle and rifling through the book. Via Soobin’s fuzzy senses, Beomgyu bites his lip and continually glances between the book and the frog-face watch on his wrist. “Is there no freaking table of contents?”

A startling buzz by his ear makes Soobin jolt again; he identifies the same fly that caused his fall and probably also the end of the world.

“Was it 1985-86 or 1986-87?” Beomgyu mumbles, then takes out his wand. “_Accio _ Hongnak Choi’s thesis!” 

Nothing happens. He curses and keeps flipping through the pages.

Evidently unsatisfied with the title _ Destroyer of the World_, the fly lands on Soobin’s wrist, looking supremely gross and annoying. He stares at it, anger suddenly flooding him at a rate that he has never experienced in his life, so much so that he starts _ shaking. _

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. He was supposed to have a stressful year at Hogwarts, yes, but it was supposed to arise from his end-of-year OWLs, not a destroy-the-world plot threatening the livelihood of his first love and the well-being of his friends. It’s unfair. Kai, Taehyun, Beomgyu, Yeonjun, Soobin— none of them deserve this. 

Soobin curls the fingers of his other hand. Then, in one move, he slaps the fly hard enough to bruise his own skin and doesn’t even cringe as its gross body and blood smear against his skin. Good riddance.

But then it's _not_smearing. Then it’s _ reforming _ and actually _ expanding _ under his hand. From the crushed body of a world-ending fly appears a thin, dusty, black hardcover book. Soobin stares wide-eyed at it, mouth agape. Printed on the spine in big, fat horizontal letters:

**RESTRICTED HOGWARTS STUDENT THESES**

**1985-86 SCHOOL YEAR**

Eyes disbelieving and brain wonky, he opens the cover to a neat title page:

**1985-86.**

**Of the culminating research projects of 27 qualifying seventh-year students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, nine contain material classified as inappropriate for general audiences.**

Nine names are listed and separated by House. There is only one name under Hufflepuff.

**CHOI, HONG-NAK**

Soobin stares at the name, too shocked to grasp reality. _This is— _

“What is that?” He looks up to see Beomgyu watching him. He takes a crawling step to see the little black book's identifying spine, which Soobin fails to hide in time. Beomgyu’s eyes go wide.

Without thinking, and disregarding the horrible aches and pains in his body, Soobin throws the book with all the strength he can muster down the aisle. It totters out of sight into the open area of the Restricted Section.

Beomgyu gives chase to the book, leaving Soobin’s wand behind.

_ Bingo. _Soobin fights the shakiness of his body to crawl over and take his wand. Yeah, the book is important, but he won’t be able to hold onto it without a wand with which to defend himself, so he quickly commends himself for discarding the book, even though now it means that Beomgyu is closer to it than he is.

Resisting the urge to vomit, Soobin uses the shelves to get to his feet and to hobble toward the open area.

Luckily, there are so many books that Beomgyu threw around earlier that the right book seems to elude Beomgyu. _If all of this goes well, _Soobin thinks dryly, getting a clear shot of his friend, _Maybe I should try out for Muggle baseball._ _“Stupefy!”_

Beomgyu jumps out of the way with a yelp, nearly tripping over some books as the spell shoots past him. “Fuck—!” he starts, turning on Soobin, who quickly tries again.

_ “Stupefy!" _

_ “Celaestis somnium!” _

Their spells clash in bright turquoise and white. Soobin supposes that if he were in good condition, he might stand a chance in this situation, but _ as _ it stands, he is not, so his teal light is quickly put out, and all he can think as Beomgyu’s unrecognizable spell overcomes his is, _ oh. _

White tendrils of light enter the tip of Soobin’s wand and exit the handle, finding purchase in his chest. Waves of exhaustion have him sinking to his knees as his body gives out. As the world blurs, his eyes find the book just a foot in front of him, propped up against another.

Beomgyu bends down and picks it up from right in front of Soobin, who wants to grab it but cannot, as he is fighting a deeply entrenched urge to fall asleep. “No,” he whispers, and attempts to crawl. Unfortunately, it’s all he can do to just hold the floor at a distance without letting go and collapsing. There’s no way that he can move from this position without giving in.

“I’ll be back for you, hyung,” Beomgyu promises hurriedly. “I’m so sorry. Go to sleep for now, okay?”

“No,” Soobin calls out again when Beomgyu leaves his sight. “Help,” he whispers, blinking far too slowly and losing his grip on reality.

In the state of half-sleep, where one is not quite asleep or awake, he feels himself not kneeling on the floor of the Restricted Section, but flailing in the middle of a lake. He tries to stand, but there is no sand beneath him; the water is too deep.

Across the lake, a boy in white calls out to him, “Hyung!” Soobin doesn’t recognize him, but he acts as though he knows Soobin. “What are you—?”

Soobin takes gasping breaths, panicking as the water splashes around him. “I can’t sleep,” he cries, trying desperately to stay above water. “I can’t. I need to stay awake. I need to—!”

“Okay! Okay, hyung," the boy replies shakily. He closes his eyes. “I’ll give you what you need.”

After a horrible moment where Soobin is sure that he's going to drown, a gentle blue light emits from the boy’s chest and illuminates the dark landscape. The lake turns as bright as tropical waters. The stars in the sky disappear and give way to cloudless blue heavens. The horizon reveals previously unseen mountains that Soobin instantly connects to his childhood.

And then he _ does _ recognize the boy. The lake keeps lightening and the water fades from his vision, but that face remains clear to him. 

“Kai!” Soobin shouts, but the dream is gone. He is still in the library and still on all fours, but much has changed within him. His bones, muscles, and skin all feel steady and strong. He is not shaking and not tired; he feels as awake as he did when he woke up this morning at that unlikely early hour.

Kai must have given that alertness to him; Soobin knows it. And here Kai is, giving him strength again. _ Taehyun’s going to get you, Kai. Just hold on. _

With renewed breath, Soobin turns to the clock, which shows that not even a minute has passed. He grabs his wand, stands on his own two feet, and runs.

* * *

Kai’s breathing declines as Soobin disappears with a spectacular glow of blue light and leaves him alone in the dark lake once more. There are no spectral figures; no one is with him now. He transferred to Soobin all of the consciousness that he had been clinging onto— even saving up for himself. The lake fades. His body fades. The stars dim to nothing. Now there is nothing at all but a dull hum in the abyss. No room for a single thought. No room for fear.

* * *

Taehyun skids to a halt in front of a concealed broom cupboard at the half-floor landing that leads to the kitchens. He yanks it open and steps into the Vanishing Cabinet, coming out on the other side and briefly interrogating a mystified shopkeeper about the missing Hogwarts student that’s been in the newspapers, but she seems to be truly clueless, so he promptly moves on to his other theory and pops back into Hogwarts, closing the cupboard behind him and tracking his way upstairs.

Professor Aadnevik comes into view. Taehyun comes to a silent stop and watches her walk by in a traveling cloak with her trunk and handbag. Soobin was right: she really is ditching Hogwarts. He entertains the idea of attacking her and ending it all now but decides that as a tenured professor, she might easily outperform him in dueling, and he’d rather spend his efforts looking for Kai. So he anxiously waits for her to pass and, after counting for several slow seconds, figures that he's safe and bounds upstairs until he reaches the seventh floor.

Not everyone knows about the Room of Requirement, but Taehyun takes pride in his knowledge of it. Still, he’s never made his own attempt to access it because, well, he’s never really needed it.

Until now.

Taehyun approaches the stretch of wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and begins to file through his rolodex of infinitely clever ideas that might access the room where Kai is hidden.

He begins, deciding on five different “I need…” phrases that might reveal the room. One by one, he dutifully tries them out, thinking about each need very emphatically and passing the room three times, as is customary. And yet, one by one, the room does not budge. The wall remains a wall, showing no sign of penetration by Taehyun’s clever phrases.

When he runs out of options, his heart pounds in his throat. He paces the corridor and loses his poise, now silently begging a simple phrase: _ I need to save my friend. I need to save my friend. I need to save my friend. _

It’s just that simple. A stone noisily slides out of the wall. Taehyun wastes no time congratulating himself and quickly pulls it. When that doesn’t work, he pushes it, and when _ that _ doesn’t work, he slides it. Finally, the wall gives way and reveals a small, plain room with just a twin bed in the corner and a softly glowing lantern hanging on the wall opposite. Under the floral quilt of the bed is a long, lanky figure whose face is turned away. Taehyun enters the room and gently rolls him over. He is certainly Kai, as Taehyun expected, but his face is cold to the touch and there is a greyish hue that sends dread up and down Taehyun’s spine. He places his fingers under Kai’s wrist. If there’s a pulse, it’s too soft for him to distinguish from his own trembling fingers. He then feels for breath under Kai’s nose, but whether it’s breath or draft, he cannot tell.

He jerks Kai’s shoulders. “Kai. Wake up.”

He waits patiently for Kai to move, but his friend remains as limp and unconscious as before. Shaken up, Taehyun takes his wand out and puts his best technique forward. _ “Rennervate,” _ he articulates, but the little spark of light seems to fade on Kai’s skin. _ “Rennervate!” _The same thing happens. Kai does not move.

Taehyun steels himself, knowing that if he gives into panic or anguish, he will be of no use to his friend. He takes comfort in his faith that Beomgyu, for all of his raw thoughtlessness and pure idiocy, would _ not _ kill Kai. Besides, who puts a dead body in a _ bed? _ Kai _ must _ be asleep.

Feeling a little better at this train of thought, Taehyun discards his dress robes and maneuvers his unconscious friend onto his back in a pack-strap carry, but Kai’s feet almost comically drag on the floor. “Give me a few centimeters, just this once,” he scoffs dryly before rearranging them into position for a more practical fireman's carry. They go downstairs together like that, Taehyun transporting his friend and heading toward the Hospital Wing with plans to get help afterward.

* * *

Soobin runs as fast as his legs will allow, but if Taehyun is fast, then Beomgyu is lightning. In fact, by the time Soobin reaches the Entrance Courtyard, Beomgyu is already halfway across at a steady walking pace.

The lights from the castle windows cast outward and set the scene aglow. At the end of the courtyard, on the cusp of departure, is an awaiting Professor Anne Aadnevik. She rests her trunk on the ground and holds her handbag gently, her eyes trained on Beomgyu. When Soobin rushes out, she looks up.

“Duck!” Soobin shouts in Korean, the icy air of December hitting him like a slap. He points at Aadnevik and jogs down the steps. _ “Stupefy!” _

Beomgyu drops to the ground and covers his head, but it seems that Aadnevik gets the message and she, too, ducks, allowing Soobin’s spell to explode against the column behind her.

Aadnevik stands back up with her wand in hand and flicks it from Soobin to the side.

An invisible force grips Soobin and throws him against a column, reopening the pains and aches from his fall before. The incredible physical invincibility he felt disappears in an instant, and he watches helplessly as his wand clatters several feet to the left.

Aadnevik keeps her wand on Soobin. He dares not move. “Beomgyu,” she says.

Beomgyu hesitates before continuing to walk, and Soobin is reminded that his younger friend has no choice. “This is a bad idea,” Soobin coughs out in Korean. He’s okay with assuming that Aadnevik can’t understand. He sits up, noticing new cuts and rug burns on his hands, and takes heaping breaths to speak louder to Beomgyu, who stops in his tracks. “You’ll still be bound to her when all of this is over.” 

_ Don’t do it. _ Soobin conveys it as best as he can in his expression. _ This isn’t worth it. _ If Aadnevik gets the book, then Yeonjun is safe for the time being, but what about when she wants something else? Will he continue to devote any and every facet of his life to her, just to be safe? Always wondering when she’s going to find him next?

“I don’t have a choice, hyung,” says Beomgyu. “I don’t want to die.”

Soobin’s heart pounds; his mouth opens to say anything that might prevent this. “What about Kai? You didn’t give him a choice. _ He _ doesn’t want to die.”

Beomgyu startles. “Wh— he’s not dead.” He turns to Aadnevik, switching to English: “You said the spell on Kai was safe.”

“It is,” Aadnevik replies patiently.

“It’s not!” cries Soobin in Korean, immediately coughing from forcing a loud volume. “He’s trapped—”

Aadnevik's patience wears. _ “Silencio.” _

Soobin speaks, but no words come.

“Thank you. Beomgyu?” Aadnevik holds out her hand as casually as ever.

Soobin shakes his head, silently begging Beomgyu, _ do not do this. _He glances at his wand; he can grab it if he’s fast.

Beomgyu takes a step toward Aadnevik, who lowers her wand.

Soobin capitalizes on his chance and jumps towards his stray wand, but Aadnevik is quicker. She doesn’t even speak. In a split-second, Soobin’s wand explodes, sending tiny shrapnels of beechwood into the left side of his face as he turns away reflexively with a silent cry of pain. It feels as though a thousand tiny knives pierce into his skin at once. He barely covers his eyes in time and collapses onto his now-bruised knees as tiny drops of blood splash onto the stone below from his cheek.

“Stop!”

_That's not Beomgyu’s voice._ Soobin dazedly swings his head toward the doors, where Yeonjun now stands plainly. _ What are you doing? _

Aadnevik pays Yeonjun no heed. After destroying Soobin’s wand and possibly mutilating his face in the process, she contentedly tucks her wand into her sleeve and takes short strides toward Beomgyu.

Yeonjun takes a step down, his face pale and sickly. “Get away from him."

_ Of course, _ thinks Soobin as Aadnevik approaches Beomgyu and puts out her hand. _ Beomgyu has no choice. _ “Here,” she encourages, emphasizing her small, open hand.

Beomgyu holds the book to his chest tightly, staring at her hand without expression.

Soobin wants to say something, but he is muted. And even if Beomgyu changed his mind right now, he wouldn’t have a choice. It’s Aadnevik or death.

He turns to Yeonjun, who looks at him at the _ exact _ same time.

_ Whoa_.

Against all odds, Soobin’s fuzzy brain toils._ The summoning charm doesn’t work on humans, so Yeonjun can’t summon Beomgyu, and this book is way too clever to give in to a simple charm so easily, so Yeonjun can’t sticky-hands that, either. _

_ But he could destroy the book without hurting Beomgyu. _

With one hand, Soobin mimes tossing something into the air, then splays his fingers to indicate an explosion.

Yeonjun’s mouth falls agape. He hesitates, then gives the slightest nod.

Soobin turns to Beomgyu, who continues to stare at Aadnevik’s hand. _ You need to obey Yeonjun instead of Aadnevik. Please. _

Aadnevik sighs and references her watch, then reaches to take the book herself.

“Throw it!” screams Yeonjun in Korean.

Beomgyu gasps like he’s just woken up and _ launches _ the book into the air high above like a reflex. 

Soobin has never experienced time move so slowly. Beomgyu’s arms suspend in the air as he watches the book from below. Aadnevik freezes without even needing a stunning spell.

Yeonjun whips out his wand from a hidden pocket in his hanbok. _“Stellanovum,”_ comes his voice, steady as a ship. His wrist flicks almost inhumanly. Blinding white light springs from the wand tip like lightning and strikes the book square in the center.

The book explodes with an ear-popping _ crack!, _and sends debris in all directions. Orange flames and dark smoke roil against the white, frosted courtyard. 

All parties remain frozen as, post-explosion, burning pages and pieces of hardcover drift about almost elegantly, like ballerinas twirling. 

Beomgyu is the first to move. He staggers away from Aadnevik, his face still painted with fear.

Rightfully so. Professor Aadnevik’s expression goes through catatonic shock, heartbreaking grief, and earth-shattering anger. It distorts her babyish appearance and she pierces Beomgyu with abhorration, now taking out her wand and pointing it at his throat. Her eyes are wild. She is unrecognizable to Soobin as his quiet, unassuming Astronomy teacher.

_ “No!” _Soobin tries to yell, but he is forcibly silent. He scrambles to get to his feet, but his left ankle collapses underneath him, sending him falling to the ground again.

Aadnevik’s naturally demure voice cuts the air with violent intensity. _ “Avada Ke—!” _

_ “Stupefy!” _

Aadnevik flies backward and strikes the column behind her, then falls unconscious to the ground.

Soobin sits on his hands and knees in wide-eyed shock, registering that Aadnevik intended to _ kill _ Beomgyu, and turns to look at the open doors. 

At the top of the steps behind Yeonjun, in tear-stained glory and brandishing his wand like a soldier, is cherry-haired Kang Taehyun. “Beomgyu-hyung,” he shouts, and runs past Yeonjun to his boyfriend without hesitation. Beomgyu turns just as Taehyun engulfs him in a hug, taking them both off-balance for a few steps before settling them into a mutual squeeze.

Taking Taehyun’s place at the doors to the castle are Headmaster Slorians and Professor Nott, who clearly came directly from the Yule Ball. After a moment of appraisal, Slorians drops down the stairs in a daze and rests a hand on Yeonjun’s shoulder. 

It's over.

Soobin loses focus and his throat tenses up. His body, which has now survived a 15-foot fall, an attempted sleeping curse, a collision with a stone column, a silencing spell, and flying shrapnel from the explosion of his own wand all in the span of less than 20 minutes, _ finally _ gives out. He turns away from the others and gags once before painfully vomiting on the ground.

When his stomach empties and bile is the only thing that he has left, Soobin registers hands rubbing his trembling back. “It’s okay,” whispers Professor Nott, though “okay” is far from what Soobin is feeling.

He finally stops gagging and coughs weakly, his head spinning.

“Can you stand?” asks Nott.

Soobin blankly nods but shivers violently and stays where he is.

Nott continues to rub his back. “Look what you’ve done to yourself, Mr. Choi,” she quips gently. Her fingers come to hover over his cheek. “What’s this?”

Soobin lets out a testy “ha” to see if the silencing spell is still in effect. His own gravelly voice sounds in his ears, proving that the spell has worn off. “My wand,” he replies, clutching the ground harshly.

“Not your evening, is it?”

Soobin manages to laugh. _ That’s one way to put it. _

Nott pats him. “Good smile. Can I carry you?”

Soobin exhales and nods, a little ashamed but frankly too exhausted to dwell on it.

“Off we go,” Nott lilts, and gently helps Soobin into a position where she can drape him over her shoulders in a pack-strap carry. Being taller and far stronger than he is, she has little issue with the matter. “Let me know if you feel nauseous.”

Soobin croaks out an “okay” and lets himself be carried by his Head of House. He worries about throwing up again, but the steady, broad shoulders of Nott seem to tell him that he’s going to be just fine— that he’s Gryffindor enough to take all of this and come out on the other side even stronger.

Images of the exploding book replay in his mind along with Beomgyu’s death-defying expressions, Yeonjun’s lightning-like spell, and Taehyun’s flying red hair.

He is eventually laid onto a bed and lets Madam Lo in a peachy pink dressing gown prop up pillows in strategic locations to support his various injured limbs. She wipes her tired eyes underneath her round glasses and taps Soobin’s forehead. “Go to sleep,” she soothes.

Soobin grunts in acknowledgement but rolls his head to look for other patients. The Hospital Wing is mostly dark, but another lamp illuminates the bed adjacent to his, where a skinny figure lies facing away from him. _ Kai, _ he recognizes by the boy’s ears, his heart lifting as his eyes droop. _ You’re okay. _

Madam Lo begins to cast quiet charms that soften the traumas done to Soobin’s body. Sleep comes readily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/godtyun) or [cc](https://curiouscat.me/godtyun)!  



	32. Anew

“Slowly— _ slowly.” _

Everything is too bright, so Kai squeezes his eyes tightly shut until the light can no longer be avoided. He steadily opens up bit by bit, a slight whimper escaping him.

“Oh. Hold on.”

A wand comes into view. He startles with a slight gasp, but his vision flicks into comfortable clarity and the only "danger" in sight is Madam Lo already moving back to give him space.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No, it’s okay,” breathes Kai, testing out the movement in his fingers and toes. Satisfied that his extremities are all intact and working, he pushes himself to sit up against the headboard. With a stiff neck, he turns and finds the bed adjacent to his occupied by the sleeping figure of Soobin, who looks so small against the puffy pillow placed to support his various bandaged limbs.

“Can you say ‘ah?’”

Once Kai obeys, Madam Lo points her wand into his mouth and proceeds with various other physical examinations, tapping her wand here and there and humming meaningfully. Somewhere near the end, she asks, “What’s the last thing you remember?”

He remembers so clearly— remembers making it so bright, then watching it fade away to almost-blackness. Near-death. “A lake.” 

Madam Lo nods and taps his shoulder, soothing, “I know. It’s okay,” and Kai wonders if she perhaps performed Legilimency to ascertain those same memories. “Do you want to try standing?” she suggests. “The spell has kept your body strong, or at least someone else has. At any rate…”

True enough, Kai doesn’t feel anything other than stiff, so he agrees to let her help him to his feet. Despite her petite height, she keeps him steady as he takes one step and then another. At first they take it slowly, and he feels not unlike a newborn deer, but as the minutes pass, his limbs warm up and his blood courses through him in waves. He even starts getting a little jumpy and abandons Madam Lo’s arm entirely.

“How tall are you?” she asks, swishing her wand at him for the umpteenth time.

Kai breaks into jumping jacks to release the new energy in his body. “Five foot nine?” he suggests. He knows that he's level with one of his Hufflepuff friends who’s just that height.

“Five foot _ ten _ now,” informs Madam Lo. “Congratulations.”

Kai comes to a stop and looks at her surprisedly, then puts his arms out in front of him. Sure enough, his wrist bones peek out of the sleeves of his Hufflepuff jumper. “Whoa,” he sounds, then looks down at his legs and twists his trunk to appreciate the new height. Now that he thinks about it, the ache in his body is familiar like a growth spurt. Sneaking around the castle is gonna be even harder than before. He smiles sheepishly. _Or maybe it's time to pick up a new hobby, like studying. _

Madam Lo continues, “You should be sturdy. I gave you an antidote that’s been fermenting longer than I’ve been alive, so don’t worry. I _would_ like you to sleep here for the next week for observation though, okay?” She takes a few bottles from Soobin’s bedside table and nods at Kai. “By 9pm each evening.”

“Okay,” he replies, eyeing Soobin and suddenly noticing the thick bandage veiling his left cheek. _ How long have I been asleep? _ “What day is it?"

A new voice enters the space. “December 26th.”

Kai turns to the door where Beomgyu stands and can’t help but remember their last encounter, which started much like this. Only now there is daylight… 

…and, of course, Madam Lo. “Right on time,” she acknowledges, motioning the new visitor to sit down on the edge of a bed.

Kai keeps still, watching Beomgyu take off his t-shirt halfway. Smooth skin meets Kai’s eye until the left shoulder is revealed; his mouth falls open at the sight. Exactly where he punctured Beomgyu with a mystery syringe over two weeks ago are honest-to-God _ dragon scales, _ five or six peppered around the center of the wound where three are tightly interwoven. As Kai walks closer, mouth agape, they reflect purple, then green as the light hits them differently. _ What the hell did I _ do _ to him? _

Madam Lo, however, takes the dragon scales in stride and inspects them closely before taking out a small, delicate silver knife and scraping some kind of sand-colored paste under each individual scale. When her patient winces and sucks in a sharp breath, she sighs and speaks loudly enough that it’s clear she means for Kai to hear. “Beomgyu injected himself with a little _ dragon tonic.” _

Beomgyu shudders a laugh and meets Kai’s eyes with flinching ones. “I thought it’d be cool?”

Kai stares, at first wondering,_ why are you lying for me?, _ but it occurs to him that Beomgyu is making amends here. He knows— he _ thinks _ he knows that realistically, it’s _not_ Beomgyu’s fault for his near-death experience. Kai is pretty sure that both Yeonjun and Beomgyu were puppets for Aadnevik’s cause.

Still, it’s hard to forget the fear he felt at the mercy of Beomgyu. His heart is holding onto resentment tightly, seething, _ you did wrong by me, so don’t act like you’re doing me a favor. _

“Thank you, Madam Loooooo,” sings Beomgyu when the matron has finished.

Madam Lo gives a great sigh, which gives Kai an inkling that Beomgyu has been here many times before with even more ridiculous injuries than this. The matron then moves to Soobin’s bedside and waves off Kai and Beomgyu. “You can both go,” she dismisses. “And oh, Kai, don’t tell any _boys_ about…” She indicates height with her hand. 

Kai smiles and gets her meaning right away: she doesn’t want insecure boys to start showing up in comas because they want to be taller. “Ah. Okay. Thank you, Madam Lo.”

With a grateful nod, she sends him out.

Now redressed and slinging his school bag over his good shoulder, Beomgyu joins him in the corridor, slightly shorter than Kai remembers. “What was that about?”

Kai gives him a blank look, then looks away. “Nothing.”

Beomgyu half-jogs to keep pace with Kai, maintaining a distance that is close enough to be noticed but far enough to be on just this side of appropriate. “Are you okay?” he finally asks.

Kai nods curtly. “Yeah. Are you?” 

Beomgyu smiles brightly. “Are you kidding me? I’m part_ dragon.” _

Kai smiles back, but it dissolves the more that he thinks back on Beomgyu’s scales. Really, it’s lucky that he stabbed him with dragon tonic. That syringe could have borne any number of dangers. Kai could have killed Beomgyu... Beomgyu could have killed Kai too, though.

“It’s your own fault,” Kai says quietly.

Beomgyu’s silence is a tribute to his recognition of Kai’s complicated feelings. They reach the nearby staircases before he explains, “She made me use that spell.”

“‘She ‘_made you,’” _ Kai repeats blankly. _ “Wow.” _

“You don’t believe me?”

“Sure, hyung, except I don’t get how _ you _ fit into it,” Kai challenges, stopping mid-stair to face Beomgyu head-on. “Aadnevik knew enough stuff about Yeonjun and his dad to get her way; fine. But you’re, what, the best friend that money can buy?”

Beomgyu’s glassy eyes affix to Kai’s feet in deference. It takes several moments for him to finally speak. “I didn’t have a choice,” he reiterates, blinking rapidly. “Yeonjun told me what was going on. Two hours later Aadnevik cast the Imperius Curse onto me so that I would make an Unbreakable Vow to her. I didn’t have time to process or do anything for my best friend.”

Blood flushes Kai’s face as shock registers. _ Aadnevik forced Beomgyu into an Unbreakable Vow? _Shock turns to absolute mortification. He has no words.

Beomgyu wipes his eyes preemptively and awkwardly. “Has anyone told you what happened at the Yule Ball?”

Kai shakes his head, now turning his own eyes to the wall. “No, I just woke up, but I assume that you guys got the best of her.”

“Taehyun did, actually. And Yeonjun destroyed the book-journal thing.”

Kai nods, surprised that Yeonjun did it himself. “Did anyone read it first?”

“No, it was kind of a time-sensitive situation.”

_ Right. _ Kai remembers the plan that Beomgyu told him before indisposing him. Then his mind wanders farther, landing on the manner in which Beomgyu trapped him in the first place. “Wait, did _ you _ write that note that was supposed to be from Soobin?”

“Oh. Yeah,” says Beomgyu. Beating Kai to the follow-up question, he explains, “Peeves saw you and Soobin kiss in that classroom, but don’t worry, I shut him up before he could yell about it to anyone else.”

Kai's eyes go wide. Peeves, the castle poltergeist, is notorious for mischief. How Kai could have gotten away with boldly confessing to and kissing an upperclassman in front of Peeves without suffering the worst kind of embarrassment is beyond him. “How do you shut Peeves up?” he asks weakly. 

“By giving him something better to talk about,” Beomgyu quips, playfully slapping Kai’s arm and passing him down the stairs. “Don’t ask me what. You don’t wanna be caught talking about it by any Slytherins.”

_ A Slytherin secret? _Kai wonders curiously, bounding downstairs to keep up. “Well... thanks, I guess.”

“Don’t,” Beomgyu objects before jumping onto the main floor. “I don’t deserve it.”

Kai shrugs and follows suit. _ “It’s okay, it’s over,” _ he should say, but the doors to the Great Hall meet their sight, and Kai is amazed to find that he really is back. The signature chatter of lunch-goers filters into the corridor and fills him with nerves. He’s going to see everyone again.

One more curiosity strikes him as Beomgyu approaches the doors that also led to the big event of Christmas Day. “Was the Yule Ball nice?” he asks.

Beomgyu looks back at him and rests an arm on a door, playfully pouting. “It sucked.”

Kai smirks. “Good.”

Beomgyu smirks back and breaks into a real smile before pushing the door open. “Yo! Terry Kang!” he shouts.

Taehyun, who was sitting at the Ravenclaw table surrounded by friends, looks up at the sound of his English name and, at the sight of Kai, jolts from his seat. Beomgyu moves out of the way just in time for Taehyun to barrel into Kai's open arms, nearly knocking the wind out of him in the process.

Kai laughs, finding it appropriate that Taehyun delivered the final blow to Aadnevik. “Take it easy,” he requests, hugging his friend back in earnest.

After Taehyun comes Kai’s third-year Hufflepuff friends, squeezing him in hugs and asking a thousand questions at once. _ I’m gonna need an excuse for my absence, _he realizes. He looks about him for his former attacker, but Beomgyu is already at the Slytherin table talking to someone else.

That someone is Yeonjun.

Kai genially leads his friends back to the Hufflepuff table, his eyes continuously wandering to the two Slytherin boys.

Beomgyu indicates toward the Hufflepuffs, and as Kai takes an empty seat, letting his friends go on and on with questions, Yeonjun puts up a hand and waves stiffly, his face devoid of anything at all.

Kai hesitates, but smiles softly and waves back, silently promising Yeonjun that _ it will be okay. _ And it will.

* * *

The removal of pillows startles Soobin to consciousness, and he opens his eyes to an equally-startled Madam Lo.

“Ooh, sorry! Welcome back,” she greets smilingly, still removing pillows.

Soobin doesn’t feel nearly as pained as he did following the events of the Yule Ball, but he is still too sore to move without hurting moderately and breaking into a cold sweat. He fights these symptoms now, resisting the additional nausea that floats up his throat.

It takes a few quick charms from Madam Lo to relieve the worst of the symptoms. “I know it all wants to come up, but what you need is to eat,” she explains kindly, presenting Soobin with a tray of various breads. When he shakily takes a croissant, she zaps it to become warm under his touch. “Have as much as you like,” she insists, replacing the tray on the bedside table._ “It’ll _ be here as long as _ you’re _ here.”

It suddenly strikes Soobin that he is the only patient. “Where’s Kai?” he inquires.

“Oh, I discharged him yesterday. He’s just fine.” Madam Lo brightens up. “Oh, is it okay if the Headmaster visits? He’s been waiting to come talk to you.”

Soobin nods, sending the matron scurrying into a small room through a door. _ She’s probably talking with him through the fire, _ he figures, now munching on the croissant heartily. He glances down at his clothes and notices that he’s no longer wearing his fancy shirt and trousers from the Yule Ball, but his Gryffindor uniform jumper and track pants. At first, it offends him that someone would put together such an outfit for him, but then it strikes him with embarrassment that he’s put this _ exact _ outfit together before. 

“He’s on his way,” says Madam Lo, returning to the main area. She notices Soobin looking at his clothes and continues brightly, “Your friend Terry brought those for you!”

Soobin gives a hum of acknowledgement but with a smile privately intuits that Taehyun must have annoyed the hell out of Yuuto to get Soobin’s clothes out of their dorm. 

It doesn’t take long for Headmaster Slorians to arrive with his booming voice. “Mr. Choi, welcome _ back,” _ he belts, just short of jogging to Soobin’s bedside. Before Soobin can say one word, he points at the boy’s face and turns to Madam Lo. “Madam, what’s to become of his face?” he asks, and Transfigures the nearby stool into an armchair for himself.

_ My face? _ Soobin stops mid-chew to lay a hand on his face. At the sensation of a bandage covering his left cheek, he recalls the explosion of his wand and the accompanying shrapnels that showered his face. He experimentally scrunches his cheek; it feels numb and slightly wet under the bandage. _ Oh my God, _ he thinks, his heart rate jumping with mounting trepidation of the prognosis. _ What if I lose my cheek? What if— _

“Oh, I think it’ll be fine! The wand core is just unicorn hair, so I don’t think we’ll see any bad effects besides mild scarring.” Madam Lo picks up a small bottle from a nearby cupboard and stands to show it to Soobin properly. “It should fade within a year if you apply this twice-daily. Two drops is fine and gently massage it, but before that you should dilute—”

She stops speaking upon receiving a particular look from Slorians. “I’ll just… show you before you’re discharged,” she finishes, pocketing the bottle and entering the side room once more.

Slorians reaches into his robes. “You’ll need a new _wand,_ Mr. Choi,” he reports, as if this is news to Soobin. He takes out a large pouch and sets it next to the bread tray. “This should also cover the cost of a new broom, I think.”

As grateful as Soobin is for the money, he frowns at what its purpose means for the fate of his inherited broom. “Professor Nott couldn’t fix mine?” he asks, though he himself saw its state after his fall in the Restricted Section.

Predictably, Slorians shakes his head. “Broom that old doesn’t survive a crack like that,” he says gently, then pats the fat pouch of coins. “Get something sturdy, alright? If you have coins leftover, get some sweets at Sugarplum’s and share with your friends. You all deserve it.”

This leads Soobin into his first burning question. “What’s going to happen to Professor Aadnevik?”

Slorians sighs, and it occurs to Soobin that it must be painful for Slorians to see a trusted teacher fall so far from grace right under his nose. “I’ve already contacted the Ministry and they will be investigating her for a forced Unbreakable Vow using the Imperius Curse and the attempt of the Killing Curse, both against Beomgyu Choi. I’ll be calling all you boys together soon to discuss the story that we are presenting so that we might be adequately prepared for the Ministry’s visit. Daniel will not be implicated; I reckon that was your next question.”

“How?”

“Professor Aadnevik _has_ no recollection of a Hongnak Choi, Daniel Choi, or Yeonjun Choi. _ That’s _ how.”

Soobin is speechless. A memory charm _ would _ be the obvious answer to keep Aadnevik quiet about her undesirable knowledge, but it would take incredible magic and effort for someone to manually erase all of a subject’s memories of two people. Not only that, but for a wizard who does not have personal involvement in any of the memories, the task would require arduous, advanced Legilimency on the subject before even starting on the memory charm itself. Slorians must have slaved over Aadnevik’s mind to erase Hongnak and Yeonjun from it completely, traversing decades of memories that were not his own— and all in the span of, what, a _ few days? _

He looks very tired indeed. Soobin resolves to never underestimate his Headmaster again. 

Reassured of Aadnevik’s silence, he asks, “What about the warrant from the Korean Division of Magic? How long can Yeonjun evade that?”

Slorians nods, sinking back into the armchair and closing his eyes. “I’ve been working with Korean and Chinese colleagues for years to clear Hongnak’s name. I know the warrant sounded serious to you, but it’s the second time in five years that they’ve come here with that flimsy thing. He’s safe from that. On our end, we’re getting close. Our hope is to secure Daniel free reign of his life by the time he graduates. If by chance it takes a little longer than that, he’ll go into hiding with his mother and wait.”

“Um,” starts Soobin. “He wants to audition for acting school.”

Slorians perks up out of his state of dullness. “Does he?”

Soobin nods. “So please finish up before he applies. He likes his real name. I think he’d want to use it— or at least to have the choice.”

Slorians nods thoughtfully, then meets Soobin’s eyes. “You’ve got it.” He holds out his hand, which Soobin shakes firmly. “I’ll take my leave, then.” And with that, he Transfigures the armchair back into a stool and stands up purposefully. “I still have some things to explain to the library staff.”

“Wait, sir," Soobin interrupts quickly. "Why did Professor Aadnevik want those spells?”

Slorians hesitates before giving a modest reply: “Perhaps for a fresh start.”

The hairs rise on Soobin’s neck. Given the spells for “creating and destroying worlds,” which would Aadnevik have chosen for a fresh start? She aimed to kill Beomgyu because he took the choice away from her. God knows what she would have done, but Soobin knows what she _ did _ do, which was prey upon her own innocent students to frighten and hurt them into doing her bidding.

“Okay,” he replies, his curiosity fading. _ It doesn’t really matter _ why _ she did it, does it? _he realizes, his head sinking back into the pillow.

“Rest well, Mr. Choi,” whispers Slorians. The sounds of his footsteps tapers off, sending Soobin back into a tired state.

He doesn’t know how long he dozes for— couldn’t be more than 10 or 15 minutes— but the sound of crinkling plastic brings him back to wakefulness, and he finds a large gift basket of chocolate confections in the lap of a lanky person on the stool. _ Who…? _

Kai’s face pops out. Upon making eye contact, he smiles with squishy cheeks. “Morning.”

Soobin could cry. “Come here,” he orders plainly.

Once Kai has set aside the outrageous gift basket, he leans over the bed and hugs Soobin tightly. “I’m so happy you’re okay,” he breathes.

“You too,” replies Soobin, holding Kai tighter and feeling how solid and warm he is. After satisfying the itch to hug his favorite Hufflepuff, he pulls back and hits Kai hard on the arm. “What are you risking your life in people’s dreams for?” he scolds harshly, only managing a fake glare.

Kai squeals at the impact and pulls away, rubbing his arm with a surprised smile. “You practically begged me!” he laughs, sitting down. “And anyway, I feel as good as new. All I needed was a good swim—!” Soobin jerks his arm towards Kai, who shrieks and stumbles away from his stool with more laughter. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! I’m fine. Really.”

And Soobin can’t believe it, but Kai _ does _ look fine, if a little mischievous for his own good. When Soobin gives him a good forehead flick, Kai does not move or complain, and all is quickly forgiven.

They catch up like old ladies on a porch. It’s been two days since the Yule Ball, which means that Soobin has been clean-knocked out for most of the duration. Madam Lo apparently used all of her antidote just to retrieve Kai from the brink of death, so it’s understandably taking a little longer to restore Soobin to normal. Soobin relays Slorians’ visit, but the information isn’t news to Kai, who saw Slorians this morning for a proper debrief. Slorians posited that the experimental magic Kai performed in the shared lake dream can only be so effective to ward off magical attacks in reality— thus, why Soobin didn’t get to keep the energy that Kai gave him. Soobin then inquires about the chocolates, which look far too expensive for Kai to have purchased by himself. Sure enough, it’s a gift from Kai’s mom, who after receiving word that Kai turned up immediately sent Soobin and Taehyun an array of foodie arrangements. 

“She’s already in Hogsmeade, waiting to see me,” says Kai, glancing at his watch with a tough sigh. “I have to go soon.”

Soobin suddenly recalls that Aadnevik will only be charged for her crimes against Beomgyu, leaving Kai without much excuse for his two-week disappearance. “What does your mom think happened to you?”

“Oh, didn’t you hear?” Kai starts with a dry smile. “I decided to run away and start a new life on the Virgin Islands until you and Taehyun dragged me back. I’m in so much trouble.”

_ Ah. So _ that’s _ what the chocolates are for. _ Soobin makes noises of shock at the fake story, but Kai easily abandons the subject to ask about Soobin’s injured cheek instead. Soobin relays Madam Lo’s prognosis, which gives way to talkative chatter about their schedules for next term and the kinds of brooms available on a Slorians Budget, but after a while, Soobin starts yawning, leading Madam Lo to bow Kai out as Soobin fully falls asleep.

Dark water surrounds him.

Soobin treads it, gazing around the lake. The only figure left is his sister, Eunha, in her padded coat and orange scarf. Only now she is different. He’s sure that she used to be opaque, but now her appearance is ghostly, almost colorless.

Eunha pulls her scarf closer to herself and smiles at her baby brother. “You don’t need me anymore.”

_ But I’ll always need you, _ he thinks with a deep frown. _ You’re my big sister. _

She nods like she can hear him. And perhaps she can. “Get out of this place. Be free.”

_ Don’t go, _ he pleads, tears welling up in his eyes. _ Please don’t go. _

“I’ll watch you go,” she promises. “I’m watching you.” 

Soobin looks her in the eye. His big sister.

“Okay,” he says. “I’m going.”

He looks at her one more time, clinging onto her soothing presence. Then, without anticipating it, he dunks his head underwater.

And then he’s falling, falling, falling through air.

He wakes up to the sensation of wet eyes and cheeks, but otherwise, he feels okay— good, even. As Madam Lo comes into sight, he rubs his face to remove the evidence of tears. “I’m awake,” he announces, only gently touching the edges of the cheek bandage.

“Oh, _ good—!” _ starts Madam Lo, until she catches sight of something outside the door that makes her eyes go wide. “Wait, oh my _ gosh!” _

Soobin blinks in confusion as she excitedly waves down someone in the corridor outside and waits.

Enter Yeonjun, his black hair unstyled and his casual robes a faded melon orange that enlivens his skin. Partially obscured by his sleeve is a small bag of sweets, which Madam Lo pokes at before gesturing to Soobin and returning to her medicine cupboard.

Yeonjun lays eyes on him, looking exactly how Soobin feels: quite surprised.

Moments pass, each more painful than the last.

Then Yeonjun is coming toward him, then stopping with a brief pause. “Is it okay if I visit?” he asks in his familiar nasal tone. His expression, like always, is unreadable. 

Soobin nods. “Yeah.”

As Yeonjun comes to sit on the stool, Soobin adjusts to sit up, working to conceal his track pants with the blanket. He must look like a mess, but he wouldn't know; he hasn’t seen a mirror since before the Yule Ball.

Another odd silence passes between them as Yeonjun moves his mouth, as if deciding on words and then taking them back three or four times. “Is it—” he starts, wincing. “Is it okay if I speak in Korean?”

Soobin curls his fingers in his blanket. “Go ahead.”

“What’s happening with your face?” Yeonjun asks in their native tongue, his voice clearer and deeper.

It takes Soobin by such surprise that _ that _ voice is coming from a person whose same voice he’s listened to for months now, but he recovers himself and answers steadily back, relaying Madam Lo’s prognosis of procuring wand shards in one’s cheek.

Yeonjun’s chest sinks relaxedly. “I’m glad it’s not permanent.”

Soobin snorts softly, “Me too.” Then, unable to help himself, he says, “Your voice suits you.”

“Oh, thanks,” says Yeonjun. “Yeah, it’s pretty different from when I speak English.” 

“I like it,” Soobin clarifies.

Yeonjun’s fingers scratch the little bag in his lap before he seems to remember himself. The base of his throat flushes endearingly. “Oh, this is for you,” he states, holding up the bag and turning it so that Soobin can see the label. “I didn’t know if you liked… what you like, so— I guessed.”

Soobin recognizes it as a gummy candy that he used to send home in his first year at Hogwarts. “My sister really likes these,” he says, taking the bag and marveling at it.

“Oh, if you don’t like it—”

Soobin holds it away from Yeonjun protectively. “What, are you gonna take it?” he challenges with a playfully ironic look. “You just gave it to me!”

Yeonjun breaks into a smile and sits back. “Okay, yeah, it’s yours.”

Soobin opens the bag and offers Yeonjun the first gummy. “Would it be okay if I ask you some questions?”

Yeonjun presses his lips together and takes the offering. “Yeah.”

Soobin takes a piece himself and chews slowly. What would fix this? What would fix all of this? _ The truth, maybe? _ “What’s your hometown?”

A beat passes before Yeonjun gives his reply: “Seongnam.”

Air fills Soobin’s lungs. He _ knows _ Seongnam. “Really? My uncle lives there. In, um… Dochon?”

Yeonjun’s eyes light up with recognition. “Yeah, I know Dochon. My old house was like 15 minutes away.”

“Wow.” They have something in common. Yeonjun could have passed Soobin’s uncle on the street— could have ridden the same subway car. Yeonjun could have passed Soobin while he was visiting. “And what do your parents do?”

Another beat of hesitation follows. Yeonjun starts, “My mom is stay-at-home. She also volunteers when it’s… possible.” 

When they’re not being hunted by the Korean Division of Magic.

“And my dad… works for the OT.”

“OT?”

“Occamy Tails. They’re like wizard vigilantes in Korea, but without borders. So they go above and below the 38th parallel to serve justice for different kinds of causes.” When Soobin shows no sign of recognition, Yeonjun nods knowingly. “It’s taboo to talk about; that’s why you haven’t heard about them. But your parents would know about them. A bunch of people do. The Division of Magic has been trying to get rid of them for a long time.”

_ So this would be the thing that got Hongnak Choi into trouble. _ “So your dad…”

Yeonjun scrunches up his face. “Yeah, I think he’s high up in the organization, but he’s never really talked about it.”

Soobin stops for a moment to let this information settle, but it turns into an uncomfortable weight. Clearly Yeonjun never told him this for a reason. “Should you be telling me this?”

“Should you be hanging out with a wanted criminal?” Yeonjun shoots back, taking another gummy from Soobin’s bag of his own accord. “I assume you know about _ that _ at this point, right?”

Soobin laughs weakly, popping another gummy. “I mean— but it’s not _ true, _ right? Like— _ treason? _ Did you even do anything or are they just targeting you to get your dad?”

He almost wishes he didn’t ask. Yeonjun’s eyes are so clear and piercing that he almost flinches away. Yeonjun goes on while chewing, “I don’t know. I went out with my dad a lot when I was little, so I might’ve done stuff to help him, but I really don’t know. I don’t remember much of it ‘cause to me it was just fun, regular times with my dad.” At this, he cocks his head side to side in playful consideration and picks out another gummy. “So yeah, Slorians thinks that the Division wants to get those memories out of me, but they’re not really known for being… y’know.”

Soobin doesn’t know. He moved to the UK a year before starting school at Hogwarts, so he doesn’t know much about the Korean Division of Magic in its current state, but maybe his parents would. He gently sets the bag of gummies down at his side, tilting the opening toward Yeonjun.

“My visa is always like _ this _ close to getting revoked,” Yeonjun jokes, laughing in a tone a little too high to be genuine.

“But you’re protected?” asks Soobin, picking out another gummy.

Yeonjun exhales deeply and crosses his arms atop the bed, rubbing his fingers absently on the sweets bag and nodding at Soobin. “Yeah. Actually, to answer one of the first questions you ever asked me, that’s why I’m at Hogwarts and not at Ilvermorny or anywhere else. Slorians and my dad have been friends for a long time, so he keeps me safe. Like the fact that I’m Daniel in the student files.” He gives a helpless shrug. “If it weren’t for him, I’d probably be homeschooling with my mom in some rural corner of Korea. But yeah, this is kinda my life. My mom’s been in hiding since my warrant got issued, so… September? Yeah. Normally she can kind of hang out and be normal, but when my dad gets active, there are people who help her go somewhere safe. So we’re both protected. OT family _ privileges,” _he says, enunciating each sound of the last word.

Soobin stares incredulously. Yeah, he’s seen movies about spies and high-profile legal and political persecution, but for it to really exist as a state of nature for a teenager starting as far back as he can remember… Does Yeonjun even _ feel _ like a teenager, or is he on another timeline that dictates how fast he has to grow up? And the fact that he still has so many friends even though his life experience is different… 

Then again, maybe it’s _ not _ so different. Soobin looks closely at the point of Yeonjun’s nose. It’s just a nose. Yeonjun’s cheeks are just cheeks. Yeonjun’s eyes were formed just like Soobin’s. He is just like Soobin. Yeonjun who had fun with his dad as a kid, just like Soobin. Yeonjun who learned how to cast spells, just like Soobin. Yeonjun who can get mad, who can cry, who can hug tightly, who is possessing of emotions, thoughts, flaws, and _ strengths_, just like Soobin.

Yeonjun who is real, like Soobin.

“Anything else?” asks Yeonjun, peering up. His bottom lip is cracked unevenly down the center; he must have forgotten to apply chapstick.

Soobin files this all away to keep to the task at hand. “How did Aadnevik find out about your dad?” he asks, focusing back on Yeonjun’s eyes, which are not so intense now that he’s looking at them newly.

“She said she overheard something about him in the Hog’s Head.” From the tone of his voice, it’s clear that Yeonjun has no intention of elaborating.

Soobin nods and carefully rests his hand on Yeonjun’s arm. “Okay.”

Yeonjun might reach to take his hand, but a new voice interrupts the room. “Madam Lo?” calls the impatient man, floating camera equipment into the room from the corridor. It’s the photographer from the Yule Ball.

Madam Lo emerges from the side room in a floor-length pink dress doused in a bright red strawberry pattern.

**“**Whoa,” says Yeonjun.

Madam Lo beams, her black hair silkily falling just over her shoulders. “Isn’t it pretty?” she asks. When Soobin and Yeonjun have both sounded their appreciation, she points the photographer to a blank space on the wall, where he promptly magics a starry tapestry— the same one from the Yule Ball. “I’m always on-call for emergencies, so I didn’t get to go to the Yule Ball,” she explains, walking up to the tapestry and turning to pose.

The photographer shortly gets into place. “Ready, madam?” he calls.

Madam Lo poses excitedly.

_ Snap! _

The photographer backs up with a satisfied sigh. “Okay—!”

“Oh, can I have one more?” Madam Lo asks amiably, still smiling.

The photographer closes his eyes, seeming to gather all of the patience in the universe. Then, with a distinct movement, he lines up for his second shot, to which Madam Lo poses again, twirling in the dress to give the moving picture something to watch. _ Snap! _“Alright,” says the photographer, happily zapping the tapestry off the wall.

Madam Lo glances at Yeonjun and Soobin, who were watching all the while in a curious state. “Oh my gosh, _ you _ didn’t get to enjoy the ball either! Hold on!” 

She runs into the side room and reemerges with Soobin’s dark grey dress robes, casting them to fall into his lap. 

Yeonjun and Soobin look at each other as the slow-moving disaster happens before them.

Madam Lo stops the photographer from packing up, counter-charming his equipment into remaining usable. “Could you also take a picture of these boys?” she asks kindly, turning to said boys. “Oh Soobin, I can magic the robes onto you if you want. You should get a good picture!”

Soobin stutters helplessly, “No, no, I don’t need to…”

The photographer, now annoyed beyond repair, magically slides the camera to fix right in front of Soobin’s hospital bed. He contemptuously sets up shop, zapping a tapestry onto the wall behind the bed. “You get _ one shot,” _he warns.

They’ve been here before. Breath feels far from Soobin, and he wonders if he might break into a cold sweat again directly on camera. He dares to look at Yeonjun, who meets his eyes with similar apprehension.

Turning back to the camera, Soobin offers a peace sign.

After a moment, Yeonjun deposits a gummy into his mouth and does the same.

_ Snap! _

“Right,” says the photographer, finally collapsing his equipment with one swift spell. “It’ll be on the notice board by morning. Get well soon,” he adds blankly, erasing the tapestry and sauntering back out as haughty as he came.

“This is gonna be so cute,” Madam Lo sings, disappearing into the side room once more.

Soobin fidgets with his fingers and recalls that Yeonjun was his date to the Yule Ball— that he actually asked Yeonjun out and received a kiss on the cheek for his efforts.

And _ now _ what? Where exactly do they stand after all of this? 

He squeezes a handful of the grey dress robes in his lap only to realize that he’s got a handful of something else, too. With furrowed brows, he unravels the robes to reach the inside pockets and take out two tiny, clear bottles filled with flat blue liquid. A handwritten label on each of the bottles makes his heart jump up to his throat.

“What’s that?” comes Yeonjun’s voice, and fuck, this is _ it, _ isn’t it?

It’s dumb, really. After Soobin investigated the Restricted Section on Christmas Eve to escape the consequences of his mortifying indirect confession, he spent several hours in the library doing nothing but reading… until he noticed several empty sample potion bottles left behind at one of the study tables. So Soobin had a dumb idea. He took two bottles, filled them with water from the bathroom, Transfigured said water into blue raspberry lemonade, and slapped two identical labels onto them with the intention of delivering a private, _ real _ confession to Yeonjun at the Yule Ball.

Obviously, things changed, but oops, here they are now. Soobin hands one to Yeonjun without thinking about it for too long. The label reads **WINDEX FOR THE HEART **in as neat a font as he could manage.

Yeonjun stares at the little bottle with an investigative expression, turning it over in his fingers curiously.

Unable to prolong the suspense, Soobin explains, “I was gonna give it to you at the Yule Ball. I wanted to clean things up between us for good. I wasn’t sure if my apology was enough.” He winces at the last part, suddenly realizing that Yeonjun kept delaying his own apology to Soobin. _I guess he knew what was yet to come._

Yeonjun looks up. “Do you still wanna clean things up?”

“Yeah. I do.”

Yeonjun swallows and looks back at the bottle, inspecting the blueness. “It’s not… _ actually _ Windex, is it?”

Soobin laughs in spite of himself. “No, it’s a metaphor. It’s, uh… blue raspberry lemonade. Wait, I can make it a little fizzier—!” 

He reaches for a wand that no longer exists, but even if it did, it would be of no use. Yeonjun pops the cap off and downs the “potion” in one gulp, smacking his tongue afterward in contentment.

Soobin does not question the lack of hesitation on Yeonjun’s part. He follows suit right away. The lemonade has become flat like he feared, but it’s still sweet with complex, saturated flavors.

“That’s good,” Yeonjun comments.

“Yeah,” Soobin agrees.

Yeonjun meets Soobin’s eyes. “Hi.”

“Hi,” repeats Soobin, too naturally dazed by Yeonjun to act as suavely as he wishes he could.

Yeonjun smiles and runs a hand through his hair. “I think I’ve seen you at my Quidditch practices. Soobin, right?”

Soobin blinks for a moment, now lost as to what is going on. For a split-second he even thinks that maybe he poisoned Yeonjun after all. But the glint of humor in Yeonjun’s face tells all: it’s a play. 

Soobin’s okay with playing. “Uh, _yeah._ How’d you know?”

“My roommate Beomgyu knows you,” the fox-eyed boy explains, setting the bottle on the bedside table idly. “I think you guys have Potions together.”

“Oh?” Soobin laughs, breaking character momentarily before becoming very serious. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I know your name.”

The boy cocks his head. “Choi Yeonjun. 1999.”

“Choi Soobin. 2000.”

The boy named Yeonjun lifts a finger and gestures to Soobin’s cheek. “It looks like you got hurt.”

Soobin shakes his head, his eyes not leaving Yeonjun’s for a second— not for a moment. His reply is truthful:

“It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/godtyun) or [cc](https://curiouscat.me/godtyun)!  
i'd love to plug my friend tessa's taegyu au [everyone who loves you goes to heaven](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24970396/chapters/60449122) one more time! she just finished posting and i'm so proud of her for the final product! go read!!!!!!
> 
> i currently have no timetable for the final chapter, but i anticipate that it will take around two weeks. we're nearing the end!


	33. This Magic Hour

If Kai once thought that long limbs would hinder his ability to sneak around Hogwarts castle, that fear is no more. In the days following the Great Big Bad Book Explosion Fight (title pending), Kai finds that he’s just a little quicker on the draw when dipping into the shadows to hide from Peeves, Hans, and other lurkers. 

The long limbs are coming in handy today in particular. After counting down to the new year last night in the Hospital Wing and waiting for Madam Lo to retire to her study and Soobin to fall asleep, he snuck out for another post-curfew adventure. At 3am, he returned, after which he fell into bed and passed out. Madam Lo was not impressed to find him atop his blankets in the morning. “It’s 11,” she said. “Even Mr. Choi left already.”

And that’s when Kai realized. 

He was late.

He _ is _ late, and now he forces his long legs to work at maximum capacity as he positively sprints to the boys' dormitory to change into snow clothes. “Soobin should’ve woken me up!” he complains to the empty corridor, turning the corner to go downstairs.

It’s too late for him to stop his momentum as another figure emerges from the corner. Reflexively, he thrusts his arms between them to minimize contact, but they crash into each other anyway with matching yelps, and the speed at which Kai was moving sends them both to the ground harshly. 

Kai tumbles down just a few stairs before blindly grabbing onto the bottom of the handrail and steadying himself. When he looks to check the status of his victim, he finds her seated at the top of the stairs looking disheveled and disoriented.

The first thing he realizes is that said victim is Hannah Firster, the president of Dueling Club. The second thing he realizes is that her hijab has come loose from the impact; he looks away, mortified. “Oh my God, I am so sorry!”

Hannah releases some choice swear words before laughing shakily. “It’s fine. My underscarf is enchanted.”

Kai shakily comes to his feet and offers her his hand. “I am so sorry,” he repeats, eyes still flicking away as Hannah adjusts her hijab. “I'm running late.”

She waves off his hand and stands on her own. Kai impatiently takes a step downstairs and Hannah, probably sensing his imminent escape, orders, “Hold on. I’ve actually been meaning to have a chat.”

“With me?” asks Kai distractedly, restlessly wiggling his heel on a lower step. He wonders if she's going to ask him about his two-week disappearance, but after days of telling the Virgin Isles lie over and over, he hopes that someone's already told her. “Why?”

Hannah raises an eyebrow. “Okay, no need to act like I’m not important enough. I understand that already.”

Kai swallows at the cut of her frank words, feeling as guilt renders him into stillness. The image of his friends waiting for him vanishes.

Hannah blows her lips and touches her forehead. “I haven’t been this disoriented since Maggie Frosch turned me queer in first year.” Taking a deep breath, “Now,_ I _ fancy knowing if _ you _ fancy joining Dueling Club next term.”

Kai blinks. “Like… as a member?”

Hannah snorts, her hard mouth upturning into a smile. “Modesty, huh? You’ve got nonverbal magic down as what, a third-year? If I don’t get you and recruit you for e-board, I’m the sorriest president this club will have ever seen.”

Kai thinks back to Duelement. Looking back on it, he thinks he performed pretty well, but to join club activities and join the… what did she say? “E-board?” he asks curiously.

“Executive board— like president, deputy, et cetera. Daniel and I graduate next year, so we’ll need to train some of you to take our places.”

“Um, I don’t think— I don’t think I can—” Panic storms his head. Is Hannah trying to groom him for leadership? He’s never been to a real club meeting. He doesn’t— 

_ “Okay,” _ says Hannah slowly, appearing to read Kai’s panic perfectly. “Just club meetings will do. Just a normal member. And if you like it, maybe think about helping run warmups next year. _ If you like it,” _ she reiterates at the end.

Kai smiles gratefully. “Okay.”

“Okay,” says Hannah, laughing a little. She again adjusts her hijab, which sparkles under the light. She looks at Kai with a directness that he realizes he’s unused to. Her eyes are not large like Taehyun’s or innocently bright like Soobin’s, but in them he sees a depth that inexplicably compels him to look directly back at her. “You can go,” she says lightly, slightly waving Kai off but holding his gaze.

The unfamiliar feeling names itself: he doesn’t feel small. God knows why it took crashing into Hannah Firster to realize it, but it’s real. He doesn’t feel plain or insignificant or small. A sense of calm washes over him. “Thanks, Hannah.”

She nods, missing the slightest beat as she holds his gaze on just this side of too long. “Yeah,” she acknowledges, her voice softening. “Happy New Year.”

Kai beams. “Happy New Year,” he breathes before finally breaking eye contact and running downstairs. “Try not to run into anyone else!” he calls back cheekily. He turns briefly to gauge her reaction, which does not disappoint. Hannah barks out a laugh and disappears around the corner, cueing Kai to continue on his way as well. All throughout changing into snow clothes and running back through the castle, a little smile stays on his face.

_ Dueling Club should be a lot of fun. _

He nearly twists his ankle twice while bounding toward the Quidditch pitch in the shallow snow, but his body remains in one piece and he approaches the Quidditch Changing Rooms just as someone walks out toward him.

“You’re late,” greets Yeonjun, bundled up tightly in his winter cloak. His cheeks are pink from the cold and his mouth peeks out from a thick green scarf. “Everyone’s getting cold, so I think we’re gonna head in soon.”

Kai vocalizes frustratedly and jogs toward Yeonjun. “Soobin should’ve woken me up,” he protests, passing through the empty changing rooms ahead of Yeonjun. “I would’ve been on time. How long have you guys been out?”

“Hour-and-a-half, maybe?” Yeonjun guesses, catching up. “But we can stay out longer since you’re here now.”

As Kai reaches for the door leading to the field, Yeonjun puts out his arm to stop him. “Um.”

Kai stops, facing him uncomfortably. “Uh, yeah?”

Yeonjun purses his lips, then meets Kai’s eyes resolutely. “We haven’t talked about everything.”

This Kai knows. Between exchanging head-nods at the Great Hall several days ago and now, they’ve only spoken a few times, none of which involved a single reference to the events of Christmas Day. Kai was completely fine with this outcome; he had chalked it up to a tacit understanding between himself and Yeonjun that they should usher in a clean slate without dwelling on the past. 

_ I guess that was wishful thinking. _Kai laughs nervously and flicks his attention to the door. “Oh, hyung, I really don’t need to. I’m okay.”

Yeonjun remains steadfast, side-stepping to block Kai further. “Kai, we should talk.”

Kai shakes his head, hoping to convey his goodwill. “But I don’t have anything to say about it. We’re fine, really.”

“Okay, but I have something to say about it,” says Yeonjun, frowning,

Kai takes a deep breath and backs away in resignation, closing his eyes. “Okay, okay, just do it quickly.”

A very uncomfortable silence passes. Then, finally: “I’m sorry.”

Kai relaxes and opens his eyes. “Forgiven.”

And it’s true. He doesn’t have the energy to hold onto bad feelings. Already, the lake is fading in his mind. The abyss that spelled death is but a hum now. He _ is _ okay. Not perfect, but better than he's ever been.

For a long second, Yeonjun stares at him, as if trying to discover that Kai isn’t really as forgiving as he’s making himself out to be, but with no proof of it, he slowly nods.

Kai decidedly offers, “I’m sorry that I kissed Soobin.”

Yeonjun’s face stills, but his little nostrils flare unwittingly. Kai holds back his smile as he waits for Yeonjun. Since Kai nearly died, Yeonjun has no choice but to forgive him too. _ Although, _ Kai thinks privately, _ it’s not like Yeonjun and Soobin were together when I kissed Soobin. _ He doesn’t really need Yeonjun’s forgiveness. Still, he did brag about the kisses to get underneath Yeonjun’s skin. He does feel bad about that.

“I forgive you,” Yeonjun replies stiffly, his expression not quite believable, but adorable enough to make Kai smile.

“If it makes you feel better, I’ve been over him since Duelement,” Kai replies, now sidling up to the door again. “Okay?”

Yeonjun appears much more sated, but he keeps his arm up for one last probing question: “Do you like someone else?”

Kai looks at him in surprise. “No?” he replies, a little unsure. Although he didn’t like Soobin for more than a couple months, he had liked him very intensely. To think of someone else in that way seems otherworldly, but he supposes that one day it might happen. “What, do I have to always like someone?”

Yeonjun shrugs and pushes the door open. “No, I guess not.”

The expansive field emerges, covered with pristine snow except for narrow trails of footprints leading to three boys knocking around with broomsticks in the center. Kai immediately sees his own broom hovering off a few feet away, waiting for its master. “Hey!” he calls out, grabbing the attention of the boys.

Soobin turns around and yells, “You’re late!” It comes through crystal-clear despite the fabric mask he’s wearing.

Before Kai can run over to them, he feels Yeonjun sling an arm over his shoulder protectively. “By the way,” murmurs Yeonjun, taking slow steps. “I wanna ask you a favor.”

* * *

_ What are they up to? _wonders Soobin while watching Yeonjun and Kai approach in whispers and nods, but he is immediately distracted by Taehyun jumping him and putting him into a chokehold. “Okay, mercy! Mercy!” he yells.

As Taehyun lets go, smiling with triumph at his own strength, Kai and Yeonjun approach, Kai being the first to speak. “You should’ve woken me up,” he complains at Soobin, lightly hitting him. “We could’ve gone together.”

“No one’s allowed to interrupt your sleep for another week, Madam Lo said.”

“But I’m _ fine!” _

“Kai, wrestle me,” Taehyun proposes, running at Kai before the latter can give his consent.

While the youngest two play and Beomgyu looks on with mirthful laughter, Yeonjun surprises Soobin by poking his mask with a gloved hand. “You can wear my scarf if you’re cold,” he offers, white air appearing from his breath. 

Yeonjun’s Slytherin scarf looks tantalizingly warm, but Soobin can’t bear to take the protection from him. "No thanks; you need it.” He punctuates this by pinching Yeonjun’s pink nose, at which Yeonjun makes a cute nasal noise of complaint. 

Weakened by fondness, Soobin lets go and stuffs his hands in his pockets, trying to appear less smitten than he is. “What day is tomorrow?”

“Friday. Our first_ rehearsal.” _

Soobin hums agreeably, glancing at Taehyun and Kai’s play fight. Kai is surprisingly holding up well and has a squirmy Taehyun in a body carry, laughing with victory and spinning around. 

Soobin is glad that the youngest two won’t have to attend “rehearsal.” He, Yeonjun, and Beomgyu are all due to the Ministry of Magic in two weeks for Professor Aadnevik’s trial, so Slorians has scheduled the three of them for daily rehearsals in his office leading up to the court date to solidify their story until it is airtight and foolproof. Soobin doesn’t think of himself as much of an actor, but school has turned him into a memorization machine; if nothing else, he can stick to a script. “I’ll have to cover my cheek,” he murmurs without much thought, wondering if the scars will be cause for suspicion or if he can pass them off as remnants of hormonal acne. “Do you think so?”

Yeonjun shrugs. “I don’t think it’s that big a deal._ I _ have a scar,” he says, pointing to his eyebrow.

Soobin leans in close and spots the small, thick line crossing underneath Yeonjun’s right eyebrow. “You’re kidding me. It’s _ tiny,” _ he dismisses. “Mine are like, _ bam, right there.” _

“It’s part of you, and you’re cute.”

The comment takes him so off-guard that he can only stare at Yeonjun’s very-close face as the monkey in his brain claps cymbals together while screaming _ CRUSH! CRUSH! CRUSH! _If his face weren’t pale from the cold and half-covered by a mask, it would betray him then and there with mad blushing.

“Yeonjun-hyung,” calls Beomgyu, now holding onto Taehyun as Kai stands off to the side, doubled over with exhaustion. “Are we doing this?”

Yeonjun sighs. “Yeah, quickly!” He then pulls Soobin’s sleeve and points him toward his broom. “Sit, now.”

Soobin furrows his brows in confusion but follows orders, watching as Beomgyu leads Taehyun and Kai to do the same until the three of them are seated side by side on floating broomsticks. Soobin adores interacting with his brand-new broomstick any chance that he can get, but Yeonjun and Beomgyu’s behavior seems rather odd. “What’s going on?”

The two Slytherins stand back, counting together. On “three,” they yell and throw off their cloaks. Both are in their Hogwarts jumper and trousers, but laid atop their trousers is an extra sight: the Hogwarts skirts. 

Soobin laughs in amused surprise. “What…?” He glances at Taehyun, who is rendered speechless, his big eyes practically discs.

“It’s fucking cold!” Beomgyu shouts through chattering teeth, jumping up and down. “Come on, hurry up!”

Yeonjun pulls his scarf closer to himself and gestures at Kai. “Drop the beat, DJ K!” he orders, getting into position with Beomgyu.

Position for _ what, _though?

Dumbstruck, Soobin turns to Kai, who already has his wand high in the air and twists it like he’s tuning a radio. “Found it!” shouts Kai, and flicks his wand. The tip suddenly glows, and from it emerges the sound of music. Not just any music, but a very specific, very familiar song to all of them.

_ “La la la la la la la!” _

Soobin gasps. It’s “Dance the Night Away” by TWICE, the very song that Yeonjun and Beomgyu used to sing to tease Soobin before he knew either of them. 

Now he can guess what’s going on.

“Skip, skip, pre-chorus!” Yeonjun barks.

Kai twists his wand and the music speeds ahead to the end of the first verse.

“Five, six, seven, eight!”

Soobin anticipates the choreography, but the effect of Yeonjun and Beomgyu’s execution in school skirts hits him full-force, and he claps along while cheering. Kai and Taehyun give their vocal reactions as well, whooping for the dancers who wear stiff, smiling expressions. It looks as though they’ve been practicing, and Soobin is so endeared.

Both boys are surprisingly adept dancers. The chorus completes, causing Yeonjun to taper off, but Beomgyu carries on and yells, “Hyung, come on!” And, after some heckling from the audience, Yeonjun rejoins the dance, committing all the way to the end of the song, when Kai finally puts his wand away.

Upon completion, Beomgyu screams in half-ecstasy, half-hypothermia and runs to Taehyun, who throws Beomgyu’s cloak back on and, laughing, hugs his boyfriend tightly.

Soobin feels something shoved into his arms and looks down at Yeonjun’s winter cloak and the retreating hands of Kai, who now approaches Yeonjun with compliments in abundance. He then goes to Beomgyu and does the same.

Soobin continues to sit on his broom with Yeonjun’s cloak in his lap, watching as Yeonjun turns to him with shiny eyes. “How was it?”

_ I might be in love with you, _he thinks with alarm. “What was that for?” he says instead.

“I thought it would make a good partial apology.”

_ Ah. The apology. _ Soobin almost forgot himself. It didn’t seem important after everything that happened. “Oh,” he says a little softer.

Beomgyu starts to address Yeonjun, but Taehyun is quick to redirect his attention. Before long, the three youngest are taking to the sky on broomsticks, playing far above.

Yeonjun clears his throat. “I’m not really that well-spoken. So I feel like all I can say is sorry.”

Soobin nods. “That’s okay.”

Inhaling sharply, Yeonjun continues, “And if it’s awkward or weird for me to start telling the truth, cut me some slack, okay? It’s been a while.”

Soobin laughs, “I mean, take your time. We started over, remember?”

Yeonjun nods. “Right.” He then takes a breath as if to speak, then hesitates. Then he says, “Well, we didn’t start _ everything _ over.”

A moment passes where Soobin finds himself trying to interpret Yeonjun’s sentence. They took the “Windex for the Heart” and now it’s all clean, right? Was Soobin’s gesture for nothing? Or is Yeonjun alluding to something out of Soobin’s grasp? “Um… didn’t we?” he answers dumbly.

“Well… _ yeah,” _ says Yeonjun, his genuine nod at odds with his flickering eyes, “But I mean… we’re still _ dating._”

_ … Huh? _

“What?” asks Soobin.

Yeonjun blinks. “What?”

Soobin must have blacked out. That is the only explanation for this. “Who’s dating?”

Yeonjun blinks. “We are.”

Soobin wishes even 3% of his brain was working right now. “Wha— since when?” he asks cluelessly, unable to process the fact that Yeonjun thinks that they’re dating. Dating? When? Who?_ How? _

“The Yule Ball,” Yeonjun laughs with a wounded smile. “Did you not ask me out?”

_ Oh my God. Oh my fucking God. _ Soobin wishes any passing deity would strike him down. _ Yes, _ he asked Yeonjun to the Yule Ball, and _ yes, _ it _ was _ because he liked Yeonjun, but there was never any establishment of romantic or platonic terms! “I mean— but I didn’t say I _ liked _ you,” he explains with panic, attempting to defend himself in this discrepancy of events. “I wasn’t like, ‘oh, hyung, by the way, I wanna date you’ or ‘this is a date.’”

Yeonjun’s eyebrows fly up. “You tried to _kiss_ me. How was that whole thing _not_ asking me out on a date?”

_ Oh my God. _Soobin is pretty sure that he’s never gonna stop freaking out over this. “Well— that—!” he stammers, doubly taken aback by Yeonjun’s reference to his failed kiss attempt. Not that he thought Yeonjun wouldn’t remember it, but he didn’t expect to hear about it out in the open so soon, or hopefully ever.

Suddenly, his last line of defense becomes clear: “You want to count _ that _ night as our _ first date?” _ he asks incredulously, not-so-subtly reminding them both of the Big Bad Exploding Book Fight, or whatever the current iteration of the title is.

“Fine, _ this _ can be our first date,” says Yeonjun curtly, taking his cloak out of Soobin’s lap and wrapping himself back in it. He gasps in sarcasm: “Oh, _ sorry, _ I am asking you out on a _ date _ because I _ like you. _ Please check ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”

Thoroughly embarrassed, Soobin stands and hits Yeonjun’s arm. “This can’t be our first date,” he protests. “We’re with our friends. That’s lame.”

After a moment, Yeonjun huffs, “Fine. Valentine’s Day.”

Soobin blinks. “For our first date?” 

Yeonjun nods.

“In _ six weeks? _ I was just thinking this weekend or something…”

Yeonjun idly picks up his broomstick. “No, that’s boring. Our day-one should be on a holiday.”

Soobin laughs hollowly. “Well, it’s still New Year’s. Let’s go out tonight.”

Yeonjun clicks his tongue playfully. “I have plans with my friends already. And since we’re _ not _ dating, as you have now clarified, I don’t feel bad about it...” He slaps Soobin’s shoulder assertively. _ “...pal.” _He begins to walk toward the center of the field, leaving Soobin to follow.

Soobin cringes and walks along with his broom. “Ugh, but by Valentine’s Day I’m gonna be dying over OWL prep.”

“Then I’ll be a nice distraction,” Yeonjun quips with a wink. “Slytherin will have just beaten Ravenclaw in Quidditch. I’ll be a dream.”

Soobin snorts. “Speaking of Ravenclaw, Taehyun and I keep thinking, are you part Veela or something?”

Surprise takes over Yeonjun’s expression before morphing into a smarmy smile. “Oh, you think I’m Veela? I’m touched, Binie, really,” he coos happily. “But no, not me. Beomgyu is one-quarter, though.”

_ “Beomgyu?” _ Soobin echoes, looking to the sky in surprise. It took Beomgyu an infamously long time to endear himself to Taehyun as a love interest. Veela are known for their charms, so even if Beomgyu is just one-quarter, certainly he could have charmed Taehyun if he wanted to, right? _ But he didn’t. _Soobin’s respect for Beomgyu increases ten-fold.

“Valentine’s Day, then?”

Soobin looks back at Yeonjun. The directness of the question suddenly has him feeling shy. He calls back to how he felt when they first met three months ago and Yeonjun put butterflies in his stomach; it’s the same feeling now. “Yeah. Okay.” 

Yeonjun smiles, but it falls as he goes “ah,” and digs through an inner pocket of his cloak. From there, he pulls out two photos. “So what should we call_ this? _Since it’s not our first date.” He emphasizes the photo in his left hand, and Soobin comes close behind his shoulder to examine it. 

The little vertical photo is taken up by a long purple tapestry decorated with shooting stars. In front of the tapestry is Soobin, neat in his grey dress robes, throwing his head back in laughter while Yeonjun smiles at him. The real Soobin gets goosebumps as he watches picture Yeonjun reach for Soobin’s hand once, twice, and then finally connect on the third attempt, when picture Soobin straightens up again, smiling back. The two never look at the camera— just at each other.

Real Soobin stares at the photo that preceded near-fatal confrontations. It’s surreal to see his own clueless portrait.

His attention is then taken by the photo in Yeonjun’s right hand. He gently touches Yeonjun’s wrist, tilting it to get a better angle. This photo shows the same tapestry, but instead of the well-dressed, happy boys of Christmas Day, it portrays a bed-ridden Soobin, left cheek completely veiled by bandages, dress robes sitting in his lap, and his visitor Yeonjun in melon-colored robes. The two of them are hardly moving at all, but somehow it is just as compelling as the first photo. The subjects hold up peace signs, both expressions tired. Picture Yeonjun takes a gummy from a half-empty bag on the edge of the bed and eats it.

And that’s it.

Real Soobin stays stuck on this photo, occasionally glancing at the first one for reference. _ What _ should _ we call it? _ he wonders. It then hits him that Windex for the Heart can only do so much. They have to clean it up themselves, too. “A prequel?” he suggests quietly.

Yeonjun twists his head to look at Soobin, and suddenly their faces are quite close. If it weren’t for the mask… He freezes, debating whether he should yank it down and make a move, but before he can commit to the idea, a shriek from the sky has the two of them separating and looking up sharply. 

“Get away!” Kai shrieks, zooming away as Taehyun and Beomgyu flank him to give chase. “Yeonjun-hyung, help!”

“Is that a fair fight?” Yeonjun calls out reproachfully, twirling his broom. His eyes glitter.

Beomgyu calls out something, and Taehyun piles on, but Kai continues to shriek, drowning them both out and making the two below laugh.

When Taehyun and Beomgyu have given up on their easy game, Yeonjun gestures to Soobin’s side. “That’s a pretty sick broom.”

Soobin holds it up, admiring the newness of the instrument. “Yeah. It might be the broom that screws over Slytherin’s team next year.” He is gratified by the confusion that appears in Yeonjun’s expressive eyebrows. “I’m gonna try out for Quidditch.”

Yeonjun’s features enlarge. “You play?”

Soobin shakes his head in so-so fashion. “I mean, I’m not great, but I played with my siblings when I was little. I’m sort of relying on my flying.”

“You are a good flier,” Yeonjun agrees. “And actually, Gryffindor’s Seeker is graduating this year, right?”

Soobin nods. “I don’t think I have much of a chance at any other position. My hand-eye coordination is pretty awful.”

“Well hey, if you make it, we’ll end up playing each other.”

Soobin did consider this. He hums. “That would be fun.”

“You guys won’t stand a chance, though,” Yeonjun laughs. “You saw my trophies, right?”

Soobin hesitates. “Trophies?”

Yeonjun’s face falls. “I told you that you should look at my trophies if you passed them by!”

“Did I pass them by?”

_ “Wow, _this is unbelievable.”

Soobin scoffs, “I watched you practice for three years straight; do I really have to see your trophies too?” 

“If you can admire my dad’s accomplishments, you can admire mine, too.”

Soobin narrows his eyes. “Are you talking about my Quidditch history book?”

Yeonjun freezes. “Oh. I forgot I didn’t tell you about that.”

_ “You _ marked up my copy to highlight your dad?” Soobin asks. “What—?”

“I was a little indisposed,” Yeonjun explains delicately. “I needed to clue you guys in somehow.

“Oh, speaking of books,” he continues, pocketing the photos. He takes out a paper-wrapped rectangle and hands it to Soobin.

Soobin feels a little whiplash at the conversation switch, still shocked that Yeonjun got into his schoolbag and marked up his book. “What’s this for?” he asks, opening the paper to reveal, _ what do you know, _ a book.

But it’s not just a regular book-book. It’s a Korean self-help book that looks rather familiar…

“We went to Tomes that one time and you seemed to want it,” Yeonjun explains a little awkwardly. “I thought you wanted it, so… yeah.”

Soobin is so touched that he doesn’t know what to say. “You kept this since then?”

“Yeah. Even after we fought, I figured, well, I can always just… read it myself, I guess,” he replies, nodding. “I kind of like my picture books, though.”

_ “The Adventures of Martin Miggs,” _Soobin remembers amusedly.

“Hey, that’s good stuff. Anyway, it’s a… it was supposed to be for your birthday. But then…”

But then they had their falling-out. Soobin nods. “Thanks.”

“Oh, and—” Yeonjun pulls out one more item and sets it atop the book. “This.”

Soobin can’t believe it. Resting atop the self-help book is a square envelope with **soobinie** written across the center in blue highlighter and a yellow balloon sticker in an upper corner. “How—? Did you take this from me?” he asks, his face flushing. He thought that he lost the little envelope after Duelement. He almost went crazy wondering if anyone read it when he had not, but nothing ever turned up about it.

“You dropped it at Duelement, but Kai passed out so you guys left pretty quickly. It’s yours. I figured you didn’t read it since it was still sealed.”

“Yeah,” Soobin confirms, amazed that the envelope is in front of him.

“Well. You can read it now,” Yeonjun says quickly, fiddling with his broom. “It’ll be too embarrassing to watch you read, though, so I’m gonna fly.”

“Okay,” Soobin laughs. Feeling a little warm, he lowers his mask below his chin and re-examines the book. 

“Hey.”

Soobin looks up.

“You gotta say you like me too.”

Soobin’s mouth goes dry. Yeonjun looks far too serious, but Soobin also can’t afford to make him wait any longer. They should’ve been going out since the beginning. “Do I have to?” he mumbles, eyes lowering to Yeonjun’s broom.

“You are killing me, Choi Soobin,” says Yeonjun, boarding his broom. “Check ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”

Soobin sighs deeply, but he can’t find it in himself to be truly embarrassed. This feels exciting. He feels excited by the prospect of dating Yeonjun. “Yeah,” he says, practically without realizing it. “Yeah, I like you, Choi Yeonjun.”

Yeonjun’s smile spreads across his face. “Then we’re pre-dating.”

Soobin nods in agreement, his heart doing all kinds of acrobatics inside of his ribcage. “We’re pre-dating.”

“Okay!” shouts Yeonjun, taking off and flying straight up towards the lazy loops made by the other three boys. 

_ Pre-dating. _ Soobin tucks the book under his arm and finally, with a great breath, opens the envelope, which reveals a folded piece of parchment. Heart still doing loops, he glances up at the flying boys before unfolding the paper to read. There contains the heart of Yeonjun from one month ago. 

It’s all written in Korean:

> <strike> _ Soobinie, _</strike>
> 
> <strike> _i’m not someone who gets nervous about things like this. but now i think i should start over again because i sound dumb and i only have this piece of paper. _ </strike>
> 
> <strike> _Soobin,_ </strike>
> 
> _soobinie,_
> 
> _i think you mistook me for someone who’s perfect. maybe it was my fault for being too… i don’t know. so here are my other faults._
> 
> _\- i tried out for seeker three years in a row before the old captain told me to just stop trying. so i tried out for chaser and finally made the team._
> 
> _\- my dad was the pride of hufflepuff and somehow i became a slytherin._
> 
> _\- i watched you study at our practices and hated you for four hours a day and four days a week for two years. i told beomgyu to sing girl group songs when he flew by you because i was sad and bored and bitter and i had nothing going for me._
> 
> _i suck in a lot of ways, including in how to tell you anything important. it’s all important, but i can’t put it the way i want to or need to. i don’t know, i know that doesn’t make sense. i wish i could say a lot. i’m sorry. _
> 
> _(wow this is depressing… i’m going way off message, lol. this is a letter for you for your birthday. happy thoughts.)_
> 
> _anyway, before i knew you, like i said, i resented you, but when i failed tests or got cut from seeker, i really counted on you being at practice every single day. you chewed on your pencil whether i scored or flopped. whether i was cool or not. whether i was there or not. speaking of— you have better attendance than any player on the team. i tried to outlast you, but last year i caught the flu the day before summer break and all i could think about while i was stuck in bed was that you were at the pitch and i wasn’t going to see you for a while. i should’ve been pissed that i lost out to you for attendance or even that i was missing practice, but instead i was just like weirdly upset that i didn’t… get to say goodbye? even though we had never spoken, plus i was gonna see you in a few months anyway. i guess you became a part of my life before i realized it. _
> 
> _i didn’t know you’d be so tall and i didn’t know you’d be so gentle. i didn’t know you’d become the sun. _
> 
> _this is the worst letter i’ve ever written. happy birthday. _
> 
> _yj _
> 
> <strike> _p.s. _ </strike>

Another _“<strike>p.s.</strike>”_ is slightly visible from the torn bottom of the parchment, and Soobin wonders how many attempts were made at a post-script message. He turns the paper over, which bears a small, drawn smiley face. He then reconsiders the front, reading over the letter again.

If they hadn’t fought on his birthday, Soobin would have read this. He would’ve been surprised at Yeonjun’s native Korean abilities, but he would’ve been more touched than anything else. Would they have started dating? Was the “p.s.” going to reveal anything else? 

He frowns, skimming over the letter yet again. Yeonjun clearly wanted to say a lot but couldn’t because of the situation with his dad. And yet, he _ did _ say a lot. The “faults” he lists are things that Soobin didn’t know. It took Yeonjun four tries to make the Slytherin Quidditch team? Impossible. He wanted to be a Hufflepuff? Unimaginable. He resented Soobin just for studying in the stands of the pitch? Not unfathomable, but still surprising. He had no clue that Yeonjun paid him that much attention.

It makes him feel warm. All this time he thought that Yeonjun was the only powerful one in their relationship, that Soobin was the only one being pulled into his orbit, but maybe he’s had a strong effect on Yeonjun too. It’s bizarre to think about, but Yeonjun must have developed a crush on him somehow. 

And Soobin had no clue. He starts to smile and wonder, now that they’re going to be dating, how he can convince Yeonjun to let him hear more of the details of how Soobin enchanted the late great Daniel Choi.

“Soobinie,” calls Yeonjun, dipping closer to the ground with a searching expression. “Are you coming?”

Soobin supposes it’ll all come with time, and time they’ve got. He takes off his mask and stuffs it into his pocket. The cold hits his face, but he can't bring himself to care. 

“Yep!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/godtyun) or [cc](https://curiouscat.me/godtyun)!  
standby...


	34. Epilogue

One year and six weeks later. 

Yeonjun lands hard on the cobblestone street and immediately takes to a jog, weaving through couples cast in the golden light of sunset. Hogsmeade is as beautiful as can be on this Valentine’s Day evening, and as he passes by shop windows laden with heart-shaped trinkets, he is reminded of this day last year when he walked arm-in-arm with Soobin on their first date— the first of many.

He rushes to meet Soobin now, his face numb from the cold of flying for over half an hour. He admittedly flew a little faster than he should have, all the while remembering Soobin’s reminder to not hurry if he was late. _ “If you fall from your broom and die on our anniversary, that’s on you,” _ his boyfriend had said. _ “I’ll wait for you, so take your time.” _

Yeonjun can’t help but to prioritize this, though. He touches the bulging inner pocket of his cloak nervously, slowing down as the hanging sign of Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop comes into sight. _ I should act natural, right? _

Waiting patiently behind a young couple in Hogwarts uniforms (eager third-years, he guesses), he takes a deep breath and wills his heart to settle. He doesn’t know when he became like this— so eager to see Soobin that he physiologically cannot calm down. He just saw him two days ago before leaving for London on an audition/callback weekend, but already he’s bursting at the seams to be with him again.

As he enters the cloying, perfumed air of the shop and shoves his broomstick into the entryway cupboard, a chorus of “Hyung!” meets him from the immediate table of four. Kai and Taehyun, seated across from each other, pore over scattered playing cards, some of which are already stained with tea. To Taehyun’s left is Beomgyu, whose fluffy hair Yeonjun ruffles affectionately. It earns him a gummy smile. 

And across from Beomgyu, to Kai’s right, is none other than Hannah Firster, who lifts a teacup to her lips and waves at Yeonjun. “We were just talking about Dueling Club,” she greets. “Are you coming back anytime soon?”

Yeonjun stills, unable to remember the last time he went. Dating Soobin and focusing on acting school auditions forced his hand to pick priorities; and at any rate, Kai seemed to pick up his slack for the club without a hitch. “I think you’re doing just fine with your new deputy,” he quips, watching as Kai turns pink.

“If nothing else, come to Duelement,” Hannah beseeches. “We want to create an extra bracket this year for seventh-years, non-members included. It’s going to be _ mad; _ you’ve got to join.”

“I’ll think about it,” says Yeonjun idly, now scanning the shop for— 

From across the room, tucked into a table at a back corner, Soobin waves at him, and Yeonjun drifts away from his friends with something resembling a farewell before taking long strides toward the back, dancing around a pink-haired employee who deftly balances a tea tray in each arm.

Soobin is ridiculously handsome in his uniform, his shining eyes drawing Yeonjun even faster toward him until they are inches apart. 

No words need be said. Yeonjun takes hold of Soobin’s face and leans down to kiss him. As he does, warm satisfaction fills him, and the delicate touch of Soobin’s hands on his wrists makes him wish that they weren’t in a public space. Even after a year of kissing Soobin as often as possible, he can’t get enough.

It’s always painful to pull away, so he keeps close as he does, smiling warmly. “Hi, baby.”

Soobin presses his lips together and shoots Yeonjun a mischievous look, something that he finds so appealing on such an upstanding, righteous Gryffindor. “Hey,” is the reply.

Yeonjun does not move away, waiting patiently for Soobin to correct himself.

After a moment, he does, laughing: “Hey, _ honey.” _

Yeonjun giggles with him, cherishing the little thrill that runs through him at hearing Soobin call him “honey.” No other nickname seems to do it, though he knows that Soobin finds it unpleasant to use the word that his parents use for each other. 

Melting into further fondness, he leans in for another kiss. While some people get squeamish about doing_ such things _ in public, he feels no shame for it. After months of disgusting mutual yearning and one year of serious dating, he feels that he and Soobin have earned the right to act mushy and gross in front of whomever they like. Besides, half the couples in the tea shop are sucking face and the other half are working up to it, so they hardly stand out. 

The only exceptions are— “Come up for air!” calls Hannah from a distance.

_ Yeah, right. _Just to make her mad, Yeonjun steepens the angle of Soobin’s jaw and screws up his eyes, giving the kiss an outward quality of fierceness that isn’t actually present in their softly-moving mouths.

Still, it must have some real effect after all, because after he deems Soobin sufficiently kissed and separates from him, his boyfriend’s face and neck are more flushed than usual and his eyes stay trained in his lap.

Endeared by the reaction, Yeonjun smooths a hand on Soobin’s head and glances back at an open-mouthed Hannah, communicating, _ how about that? _He then removes his cloak and sits down in the empty chair, smiling and satisfied. “Happy anniversary.”

Soobin lets out a breathy laugh while shaking out his bangs. “How did it go, then?”

“Really good,” replies Yeonjun, his spirits rising at the memory of the callback from which he just came. “I didn’t feel confident in the beginning_ , _ but they kept asking me to go up and participate in the acting exercises. After an hour there were like six or seven of us who kept getting called up in rotations— I felt sort of bad for the others, but it was really fun and interesting anyway.”

Soobin nods along intently, his heart-shaped mouth drifting open as he concentrates on Yeonjun’s story. “When do you find out if you make the next round?”

“One week,” replies Yeonjun, pouring himself a cup of tea. “And if I make it, I’d go back for a whole weekend workshop…”

While talking, their ankles tangle comfortably under the table, and Soobin intermittently reminds Yeonjun to drink tea to hydrate his throat. The comfort with which they now sit and chat is nearly domestic. Soobin asks for minute details, which Yeonjun gives willingly, and Yeonjun asks for Soobin’s opinion on an answer for an interview question that made him question if he was applying to acting school for the right reasons. Soobin affirms Yeonjun’s answer, insisting that he doesn’t need a special reason to want what he wants as long as the inkling is there. (And wow, does _ that _ make Yeonjun fall all the more in love.)

Following a lengthy conversation about Yeonjun’s auditions and Soobin’s NEWT revision schedule, a decorative golden cherub dumps pink confetti on Soobin during a fly-by, transitioning them into general talk of Valentine’s Day. Soobin amusedly comments that the cherubs are much nicer this year; on their first date, the little flying beasts had taken to blasting the new couple with red petals at inopportune moments.

A natural silence causes Yeonjun’s hand to fall onto his robe pocket, wondering if he should make the first move, but he presses it flat into his thigh when Soobin reaches into his school bag first and pulls out a circular, flat package with neat wrapping. “For you.”

“You _ shouldn’t _ have,” Yeonjun drawls playfully. His smile broadens into open-mouthed amazement as he opens the gift. Irregular, colorful ceramic pieces lay close together against a hard plaster, forming a mosaic image. “It’s a Quaffle,” he realizes as the colors constantly shift to create the illusion of a spinning Quaffle. “Binnie, this is so cool,” he says fondly, now holding it at length to admire the overall effect. 

At the compliment, Soobin’s nervous expression loosens, but he still asks multiple times if Yeonjun really likes it, to which Yeonjun has to firmly insist that he does.

As he gently props up the mosaic against the wall, he falters in momentum, the tiny wrapped gift in his front pocket suddenly feeling unnatural in his pocket. The fear that it will pressure Soobin or weird him out nearly persuades Yeonjun to back out, but he reminds himself that it doesn’t have to be a big deal.

He takes a breath. “I have more gifts on me in case you can’t accept this one, so you don’t have to feel guilty if you don’t want it.” He reaches into his pocket, the seconds feeling like hours, and sets down the small tissue-wrapped gift in front of Soobin without further hesitation. _ There. Done, _he thinks, watching Soobin like a hawk as he carefully unties the twine holding it together.

The tissue opens, revealing two silver rings. Soobin stills and Yeonjun, unable to bear the silence, tries his hand at a casual, “I didn’t want to freak you out with a box,” but it comes out a little uneven as his heart races. “They’re just rings. I’m not…” _ Asking you to marry me, _ he finishes silently.

If he’s being honest, he doesn’t see how Soobin _ won’t _ freak out. Six months ago, when Yeonjun said “I love you” for the first time, Soobin took two weeks to believe it, resulting in their first rough patch as a couple. And even though Yeonjun finally got through to him and received matching sentiments, he now wonders if Soobin’s disbelief could still be active. 

_ Not that there’s anything to believe here, _ he reminds himself. _ They’re just rings. _ “It’s just a gift for us,” he babbles as Soobin inspects the rings closely, looking surprised but not repulsed or worried like Yeonjun feared. The rings are engraved: one with a sun and one with a moon. “It’s probably too…” he starts, waiting for Soobin to finish the sentence with _ “weird” _ or _ “corny.” _

Soobin does not, nor does he say anything else. Reaching a breaking point, Yeonjun digs into another pocket with trembling hands. “I honestly have more gifts, I’m not lying,” he promises, and takes out a pet rock drawn with pink to create a bunny face. It just as quickly hops out of Yeonjun’s hand before he can get a good grip on it.

Yeonjun’s hand freezes midair and he watches in horror as the little rock scurries between another couple’s feet, causing them to yell in surprise. The feeling in his stomach is akin to agony.

“No, it’s— I like them,” murmurs Soobin, but his voice is as clear and loud to Yeonjun as any commentator during a Quidditch game. His expressive face is showing something that Yeonjun can’t name for once.

His heart soars and the great fog in his belly dissipates in an instant. “Oh,” he says stupidly, and Soobin gives him a knowing smile.

“Which finger?” asks Soobin.

Yeonjun takes a little breath. “Whatever you decide,” he says quietly, picking up the ring with the half-moon.

Several seconds pass before Soobin says, “Well… they’re promise rings, right?”

Yeonjun’s throat fills with lead and heat rises in his face. “Uh, yeah,” he replies shakily, stiffly moving his bangs out of the way. “But we don’t, uh, have to talk about _ engagement _ or anything for a long time. It’s just, like, an option. Definitely after you graduate; or if I get into acting school, then after that. If— when— _ if _ we feel like it,” he finishes, his face going very hot and his tongue going awry as if cursed.

And now blood is filling _ Soobin’s _ cheeks. “Then it should be the left ring finger,” Soobin murmurs, dimples popping out as he presses his lips together nervously. 

_ Is this real? _

It must be. Soobin is sliding the ring onto his finger and holding it out to Yeonjun. “Could you…? The last time I Transfigured a ring to fit, I nearly amputated a girl’s finger.”

Dazed, Yeonjun takes out his wand and shrinks the too-loose ring until it fits snugly. In the same breath, he reminds himself to inquire later about the harlot on whom Soobin put a ring.

Soobin tests the size by running the ring over his knuckles and, satisfied, opens and closes his hand. “It feels good,” he says with a sheepish nod, now looking expectantly at Yeonjun’s hand.

After Transfiguring his own ring to fit, Yeonjun lays his hand near Soobin’s to see the complete picture. It’s surreal. The sun and the moon, together at last.

“I can refill your pot if you…”

The two boys look up, meeting the frozen expression of the pink-haired employee from earlier. She stares intently at their ringed hands, then at their faces. At last, she takes a sharp breath, and just as Yeonjun realizes what’s about to happen— 

“Did you just get _ engaged?” _

Her piercing words carry across the shop before he can interrupt, bringing all face-sucking to a halt.

Yeonjun whips around in time to see Taehyun, Beomgyu, and Kai stand noisily from their seats, their faces painted in various shades of shock and objection. Hannah remains frozen mid-sip.

“Jason! The petit fours!” the employee squeals obliviously, rushing toward her tired coworker behind the counter and nearly tripping over the scuttling pet rock in the process.

Soobin shoots Yeonjun a reassuring smile just before their friends descend upon them. In his eyes, Yeonjun can read him perfectly: _ it’s a promise. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter of This Magic Hour. Thank you for reading.  
[twitter](https://twitter.com/godtyun) & [cc](https://curiouscat.me/godtyun)!  



	35. Notes & Acknowledgements

MISTAKES I MADE!

\- Using pounds instead of nuts/sickles/galleons. (Several times I’ve considered going back and editing it, but I just cannot be bothered.)

\- Inconsistency of the Hufflepuff Common Room location.

HIATUS EXPLANATION: there was a four-month gap between _ Friendship, pt. 2 _ and _ Duelement _ where I couldn’t pinpoint the plot. I had a vague idea of what I wanted, but I needed concrete character motivations and goals that made sense and felt exciting to me. I thought about this AU all the time, but I was so stuck. I wrote the first chunk of _ Duelement _ early on during hiatus, but without knowing what I was working toward, I couldn't finish the chapter. I wanted to give myself ample time and space to set up what needed setting up, so I didn’t want to rush the chapter without figuring it out. Finally, one day I sat down, faced my AU planning note, and spent four hours just thinking and working it out; I came out of that with a story map that excited me. Within a week of that, I finished the chapter.

I started writing this in the first place because I couldn’t get [ this thread ](https://twitter.com/beomphobia/status/1123847698963152896?s=20) out of my head. I then googled Hogwarts AU prompts and pulled something from a Tumblr post. I intended for the product to be a oneshot, but alas, I kept writing…

This was my first time ever attempting a mystery. I believe the result is very, very messy. I know that the story was often confusing, and that’s partly because I was attempting to carry out conventions with which I was unfamiliar. Thank you for bearing with me through it all. I've learned so much and gained a lot of respect for these kinds of stories and I'm proud that I made a bold first attempt at it in a very well-known setting, but I think I’ll go back to simpler stories for a while!

Speaking of this well-known setting, fun fact: I didn’t read the Harry Potter books until ⅔ through. I’d seen the movies many times, but my beta readers (both Potterheads) were horrified when I told them that I was writing in the HP universe without any book knowledge.

SPEAKING OF, I must thank Mags and Tessa, my Yeonbin AU team (AKA the beta readers of which I often speak!). I was the first to start and the last to finish, but we got through it with writing parties, beta parties, and yelling parties. I cannot overstate how much they helped me. They saved me from making a LOT of egregious mistakes...

Go read Tessa’s and Mags’ Yeonbin AUs! They’re far lighter and more romance-centric than TMH and very well-written. 

\- Tessa: [Blooming](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22313671)

\- Mags: [Twelve Roses ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22026436)

Lastly, I want to thank YOU! If I wanted to write this for myself, I wouldn’t have published it, and though I don’t require attention, it sure is nice to get it. I never stopped reading your AO3 comments; they brought important joys to my daily life. Thanks to those of you who also utilized my CuriousCat! Y’all have been complimentary and sweet beyond belief. I loved (and still love) reading about how you came to be invested in TMH and all of your questions and thoughts. It's so, so cool to me to think that this story, which has haunted me since I began writing it over a year ago, became a little part of your life, too— sometimes even reducing you to tears or laughter! Whether you kept up since day one or binged it all in one session, I hope that for some time you were able to escape into an imaginary tale surrounding our best boys in a magical world. 

I FINISHED!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/godtyun) & [cc](https://curiouscat.me/godtyun)!  
i am more than happy to answer any and all of your questions now!


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